


time goes by so slowly, and time can do so much

by artemis_west



Category: Green Creek Series - T.J. Klune
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Babysitters, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Babies, Babysitter Robbie, Cute Kids, Dominance, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Families of Choice, Fatherhood, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, Light Dom/sub, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Multi, Pack Family, Pack Feels, Parenthood, Polyamory, Porn With Plot, Threesome - M/M/M, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Transgender Pregnancy, Virginity Kink, pack bonds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-07-27 10:31:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20044537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemis_west/pseuds/artemis_west
Summary: Gordo doesn't think they need a babysitter for their son. Mark says they do.Robbie Fontaine turns out to be a surprise. Suddenly, their family feels a little more complete than it did before. Gordo doesn't know what to do with the feelings Robbie stirs in him, but his pack thinks Robbie fits.Gordo hates to admit it, but he does.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HEY THESE NOTES ARE IMPORTANT READ THEM PLS THANK U
> 
> so THIS is why i haven't consistently been posting fics. because of this beast (and a few others). it's almost 100 pages and it has taken me MONTHS to write. i started writing this LAST AUGUST. last year. it's taken me almost an entire year to write. it probably shouldn't have because it's only 100 pages but this is why i will never finish a novel lmao
> 
> the title is a lyric from the song unchained melody and i chose it because i think it fits pretty well with what i was trying to do by the end of the story. also i love that song and i wanted to use it
> 
> TW: transgender pregnancy, i know that can be triggering for some trans people. in this fic joe is a trans man and he has a biological child, there's also discussion about other trans wolves who have carried children. this is not the first time i have written about trans pregnancy, but it's the first time i'm posting about it i think. i have a lot more WIPs that involve it but i felt safe posting this one because it's not the focus of the story. see end notes for more on this!!

“It’s a bad idea.”

“No, it’s not. We need it, Gordo. It’ll be good for us.”

“I’m **not** gonna trust a stranger with my kid.”

“So we get to know him first. We’ll invite him over, see how he does with Marty. I like his profile. He’s got good credentials. Look.” Mark turned the laptop so Gordo could see the screen better, moving closer to him on the couch. Gordo sighed and begrudgingly looked at the profile, glancing at the picture on the side before reading through the stats. It was a trusted website, at least, and came highly recommended. He knew that meant the sitters had to at least be verified, and he hoped it meant they’d all gone through background checks. 

Whenever Mark and Gordo wanted a date night or just needed to spend some time alone together, they usually left Marty with other members of the pack. They were the only people Gordo trusted, and they all doted on Marty, but they couldn’t always watch him. And Marty wasn’t good with strangers. He was wary of them, and Gordo felt a little guilty about that. He’d been the one to ingrain it into his son, but he couldn’t help it with the history they’d had of strangers coming to Green Creek. 

Mark had been trying to sell Gordo on the idea of a regular babysitter for a while. A human, someone with the potential to become pack (only if it became a common occurrence), a nice kid out of high school or college who needed a job. They could’ve just hired a new person every time, but Marty wouldn’t do well with that. One familiar face would be the best for him, and it had to be someone who could fit well with their family. Which was why Gordo was so apprehensive. Not a lot of people could fit so easily into the Bennett pack. 

“He’s got experience working in a childcare center,” Mark pointed out, pulling Gordo’s attention back to the profile displayed on the laptop screen. “He has references and he’s CPR-certified.” 

Gordo sighed the weary sigh of the put-upon. “Fine. We’ll do a trial run. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, and we’re not gonna force it. Got it?”

“Sure,” Mark said easily, smiling as he leaned in to kiss his husband. Gordo rolled his eyes but kissed him back. When Mark pulled away, he clicked the button to set up an interview with the babysitter. 

His name was Robbie Fontaine. He was 25, he’d recently moved to Green Creek, and he’d worked with kids for almost as long as he’d been old enough to work. Even Gordo had to admit his resume was impressive. The site they were using gave members the option to leave reviews for the sitters, and Robbie was given shining praise from more than a few people. Mark was sold on him immediately. 

“I think he’d get along well with Marty,” he said, running a hand through Gordo’s hair in the way he did when he wanted to get Gordo to agree with him. Gordo thought about pushing him away but leaned into the touch instead. 

“We’ll see,” he grumbled. “Let’s bring it up with Marty first. I want to see how he reacts.”

“Of course,” Mark said. “We’ll tell him at breakfast tomorrow, yeah?” 

The whole subject of a babysitter had come up because they’d been trying to spend some time alone before Marty had come out of his room and asked his dads if they could help him with a puzzle he was working on. It was a huge puzzle, one of those 1,000-piece ones, spread out all over Marty’s bedroom floor. It had been a birthday gift from Aunt Liz, and Marty’s eyes had lit up like stars when he unwrapped it. Elizabeth had beamed and kissed the top of his head. 

Gordo had given up on the puzzle after five minutes, but Mark was more patient with their son, sitting with him and carefully helping Marty place pieces down. It was still less than halfway finished by the time Marty fell asleep, but they’d made some progress, and Marty was proud. 

After they left Marty in his bed, Mark and Gordo had cuddled on the couch in front of the TV, and Mark tentatively brought up the idea of hiring someone to watch him when they didn’t want to be interrupted. It didn’t have to be an all-the-time thing - they loved their son, they loved their life together, and they’d known what they were getting into when they decided to adopt him, but sometimes Gordo and Mark just needed the time to be together. Gordo wished they could just stick Marty with the pack whenever they wanted to go out, but they had lives, too. Jessie was always busy teaching the kids at the school, Rico and Tanner and Chris were always at the shop, Carter and Kelly had recently started their own business, and Ox and Joe had their own kid to worry about, even younger than Marty. Baby Calla was six months old. Elizabeth was usually the one to watch Marty when they asked, and as much as she adored him and spoiled her nephew, Mark didn’t like always saddling her with the responsibility. He wanted another option. 

Gordo knew he would give in to Mark eventually, but he was still nervous about it. He was protective of Marty and worried about what might happen if they invited a stranger into their home. 

“It’ll be fine,” Mark said, kissing the side of Gordo’s head as he pulled him closer. He shut the laptop and moved it out of the way so they could stretch out, and Gordo leaned into his mate, relaxing a little. “You’ll see.” 

Gordo tried not to worry about it anymore as he and Mark settled back into the show they were watching. Robbie Fontaine. They’d just have to see. 

*

“Kiddo, what do you think about getting you a babysitter?”

It was Sunday, and it was tradition, so they were at the diner. Every Sunday morning the three of them ate at Oasis, and every Sunday night they had dinner with the pack. Marty sat next to Mark in the booth, drowning his powdered sugar French toast in syrup. Gordo sat across from them, watching his son with a fond smile on his face. 

“Like Aunt Lizzie?” Marty asked, putting the syrup down. He tried to cut his French toast into pieces before Mark gently took the knife from him and helped him cut it. 

“Like Aunt Lizzie,” Gordo repeated with a nod. “But someone different. Someone you don’t know.”

“Are they nice?” Marty asked, watching Mark cut the French toast into even squares. 

“We think so,” Mark said. “We’ll meet him tomorrow. Does that sound good?”

Marty looked up at Gordo, eyes wide and trusting. “What’s their name?”

“Robbie,” Gordo said. “Daddy has a picture of him if you want to see.”

Marty nodded, taking the fork from Mark’s hand as he finished cutting up his breakfast. Mark pulled out his phone and brought up Robbie’s profile, clicking on Robbie’s picture to enlarge it. He was cute, if Gordo was being honest with himself. Dark curls, dimples in his wide smile, warm brown eyes, clunky black glasses on his face. Mark had even mentioned it last night when they were looking at sitters; “This guy’s adorable,” he’d said, with a mischievous smile at Gordo. That was when Gordo had said it was a bad idea. 

Marty looked at the picture, studied it for a minute while chewing on his French toast, and then nodded. “I like his glasses. They’re cool. I want glasses.” And that was it. It was decided. 

Mark grinned at Gordo, who grimaced back. 

So Robbie was going to be a thing. 

*

“Do you think Marty will get attached to him?” Ox asked Gordo that night after dinner. “If that happens, we’ll have to think about the possibility of him becoming pack.” 

“I know,” Gordo said. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see how the first meeting goes. You know he doesn’t like strangers, but Mark seems to think Marty will warm up to him easily.” 

“If it happens, it happens,” Ox said with a smile and a shrug. “I like having a big pack.”

“I know you do, Alpha,” Gordo smirked. He leaned back in his chair on the patio, fireflies blinking in the twilight air around them and the pack spread out over the yard of the Bennett house. Elizabeth was painting a picture of the trees, her easel set up a few feet away. She was humming while she worked. Carter and Kelly were telling the shop boys and Jessie about their new business, which was a music store they called Howl Records. (Totally subtle). On a blanket in the grass, Mark was sitting with Joe and Marty and the baby. 

Joe was staring at his newborn daughter with naked adoration in his eyes, running his finger over her little head. She looked the most like Ox so far, dark skin and dark hair, but her eyes were the Bennett blue, brilliant and bright. She giggled at everything and bit people’s fingers when she got mad. She made the most adorable noises and she was Ox and Joe’s entire world. Joe had carried Calla himself, and the birth had been difficult for him, to the point where Ox had been paralyzed with fear that neither Joe or the baby would make it. But they had, both of them, alive and healthy. Ox hadn’t spent a moment apart from either of them since Calla had been born, and Joe hadn’t separated himself from his daughter for even a second. The three of them clung to each other. 

Mark and Gordo had adopted Marty when he was a baby, a year and a half after they got married. Calla had been an accidental pregnancy just a year after Joe and Ox got married themselves. It had been scary to find out that Joe was pregnant. Scary to find out he _ could _still get pregnant after having been on hormones and birth control since he was sixteen. Scarier still to face all the complications that had come with his pregnancy, and all the overwhelming fear and worry and anxiety that the pack had felt through the bonds with Ox for nine months straight. 

But at the end of it had come almost even more overwhelming _ peace _ and _ happiness _ and _ lovelovelove, _ so much love, and _ joy. _Blinding, warm, unadulterated joy. Marty had just turned three when Calla was born, in the middle of a snowy night on a Wednesday in December just before Christmas. She came into the world screaming, but she quieted instantly when she was placed on her father’s chest. Joe didn’t stop crying for an hour, and Ox had stared at them with such pride in his eyes that it made everyone else in the room tear up. Calla changed the pack. She’d filled a part of them that was missing, and she became the tiny little glowing sun everyone revolved around. The past six months had been full of nothing but peace for all of them. 

It was odd to think that after all the tragedies the Bennett pack had faced, the years that followed would be filled with happy memories. But that was exactly what happened. When Gordo thought back on it, it had seemed to happen all at once, one thing after the other. The years went fast, but he could remember every single one of them. He marveled at how much he’d changed, how much had happened. 

The Bennetts had returned to Green Creek when Ox was sixteen and Gordo was twenty-eight, and Gordo hadn’t been prepared for what he would feel when he saw Mark Bennett’s face again. Or Thomas’s. Or Elizabeth’s. Carter and Kelly, all grown up. And Joe, little Joe, the future Alpha of all. It had been jarring. Painful, so painful. He would’ve gone on ignoring them forever and trying not to remember the past between them, just like they did to him, if it hadn’t been for Ox. Ox, who got wrapped up in their world. Ox, who got himself permanently attached to a tornado. 

When the Bennetts first returned to reclaim their territory, Gordo got a visit from Mark. He’d said, “Richard Collins is dead. Thomas killed him for what he did to Joe.” And he’d said. “Your father is dead, too. They took away his magic and Thomas killed him for what he did to you.”

Richard Collins, the man who’d taken Joe Bennett and broken him, the man who wanted revenge on Thomas. Robert Livingstone, the reason why Gordo had become the witch of the Bennett pack at twelve years old. 

Gordo had stared at Mark, and he’d seen the look on Mark’s face. Like everything would be okay now. Like things could go back to the way they used to be, the way they almost were, once upon a time. Like Mark was hopeful, thinking that now that the monsters were gone, Gordo would just forgive him for everything that happened. 

It didn’t work like that. It had taken years before Gordo was ready to forgive anything. 

But he did, eventually. 

He thought it always would have ended up that way. 

When he was thirty-two and Ox was twenty, four years after the Bennetts had settled back into their home, the witch came back to the wolves. 

It was Ox that did it. Ox that convinced him. He’d said Gordo couldn’t keep living like this, angry and hurt, holding onto his betrayal. He didn’t know all the details of the past between them, but he had enough pieces of it to put together to make a picture. Some from Gordo, some from Mark, some from Thomas, some from Elizabeth. Ox had asked Thomas first, why Gordo hated them. Thomas had looked sad. He said it was his fault. He said he regretted it. He said he was giving Gordo time. Space. Separation. 

Mark had waited for his mate, barely daring to hope that one day they might get to be together the way he’d always wanted. Gordo wouldn’t speak to him, would hardly look at him, and Mark blamed himself. But he waited, because maybe he could learn to just be okay with having Gordo near him again. Maybe that would have to be enough. Maybe that was all he deserved.

Elizabeth told Ox, “Thomas loves him very much. And so do I. He will always be a part of us. He just needs time.”

Ox went to Gordo and said, “Please. I need you to be okay again. I need us all to be happy.” By then, Ox’s mother had become pack, and there was just one thing missing. One thing that Ox said wasn’t yet complete.

It wasn’t that simple, that easy. Gordo had resisted for months before he fell apart under Ox’s begging. 

Maybe it was a little bit because he was tired of his heart hurting, too. 

So he went to the Bennetts. He stood in their clearing in the woods. He stood before Thomas first, alone, and couldn’t find the words to say what he wanted. To say how angry he still was. To say how much he hated him, and how much he loved him. To say how much he still missed him even though he wished he didn’t. 

Thomas said, “_ I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. _”

Six words to make up for years of anguish and heartbreak. It wasn’t enough. 

But it was a start. 

After that, Gordo went to Elizabeth. She hugged him. She told him, “There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that we haven’t thought of you, Gordo. You may not have thought so, but you have always been in our hearts.”

And then, finally, he went to Mark. 

Mark was the hardest. Mark was the worst. Mark hurt the most. It had taken some time to fix what had been broken between them. But Gordo tried. Mark tried. Thomas tried, and Elizabeth said it was all going to be okay. 

It was on its way to being okay when Omegas came to town. 

Since the deaths of Richard Collins and Robert Livingstone, there had been minimal threats to Green Creek. Only minor worries that were dealt with easily, that were handled by Thomas with grace. But the wards were strong. Gordo’s protections were in place, and they held. 

But there were always those that were too curious for their own good. Those that were drawn to Green Creek because of the ancient magic in its earth, the power in the territory. Those that somehow managed to bypass the wards.

Joe Bennett was seventeen years old, and he had just begun to court Ox. They were on a date the night it happened. The night Omegas got into Green Creek and descended upon the Bennett house. 

Their leader was Marie, and she had thought to take up the mantle of Richard Collins. She had thought to take from the Bennetts what Richard had never gotten to have, for no other reason than that she was bloodthirsty, and that she’d always held a torch for Richard which had never been returned. She’d loved him, obsessively, unhealthily. She had come to Green Creek to avenge him. She’d been lying in wait for years, waiting for her chance to strike. And she came when it was least expected. She came when things were good, when the pack was content. She came with her claws and her teeth and a line of Omegas behind her and she came for Thomas Bennett. 

The Omegas surrounded the Bennett house and drew them out into the woods. Ox told his mother to stay in the house, but she’d been trained. She’d toughened. She was strong and brave and ready to fight by her family’s side. So she went with them. Ox stayed in front of her, but it wasn’t enough. 

Marie had somehow gathered a big enough following to outnumber the Bennetts. It shouldn’t have been possible. Omegas couldn’t form packs on their own, not without an Alpha. And yet there were so many of them, eyes violet and fangs glistening and claws sharp. Gordo didn’t know how. He didn’t know how they’d gotten past his wards, why he hadn’t felt them, and it rankled him. It made him angry. They thought they could come into his home and threaten his pack, just when it was starting to feel like _ his _ pack again. They would pay for that. 

They fought. All of them fought, circling around each other, protecting each other’s backs as much as they could with the uneven numbers. Carter and Kelly faced off against a few Omegas together. Elizabeth and Thomas fought side by side. Jessie and Rico and Chris and Tanner aimed their weapons, standing in a circle. Gordo and Mark, just on the edge of rekindling something between them, stood back to back. Ox and Joe and Maggie snarled at the Omegas growling at them. 

Gordo wasn’t watching when it happened; he was focusing on protecting Mark, on keeping him safe, on helping him take down the Omegas that faced them. So he only heard Ox’s furious growl, human but not, human but something else. Gordo didn’t know _ what _Ox was, but he was something special, something different. They all knew it. Thomas had offered him the bite, but Ox hadn’t taken it yet. Gordo didn’t even think he needed it. 

He heard Ox’s growl, and the whole pack reacted to it as it echoed through the bonds between them. Gordo knocked out the Omega in front of him and turned to see Maggie being dragged back by one of the wolves. She didn’t scream; she didn’t cry. She’d always been brave. 

Ox snarled, “Let her go,” and Joe’s eyes flashed threateningly, half-shifted. Gordo’s magic swirled along his skin, tense and coiled to strike. 

Maggie tried to defend herself. She twisted in the Omega’s arms and aimed a fatal blow, but the Omega was faster.

He slashed her throat, and Maggie just had time to say, “Ox, I - ,” before she collapsed, eyes wide and unseeing as the life faded out of them. 

Ox screamed in anguish. The Bennett wolves howled as one, grief and anger and sorrow pouring through the air. 

Thomas pounced on the Omega who’d killed her, tearing out his throat in one swift move. Marie shouted something Gordo couldn’t hear in the chaos, and the rest of the Omegas converged on the Alpha. 

Thomas disappeared underneath them, and it was clear now what this had been about - Marie only wanted him, she only wanted revenge for Richard. She’d come here with the intention of distracting them, of spreading them thin so she could get to Thomas. And she got her wish, in the end. She got what she wanted right before she was torn into pieces. 

Elizabeth and Carter and Kelly surged into the fight, grappling with the Omegas who clawed at their Alpha. Thomas was big, and he was powerful, but there were more of the Omegas than there were Bennetts, and in the mass of wolves, the humans didn’t want to shoot for fear they’d hit one of their own pack. Tanner and Chris and Rico hesitated, even as they cried over Maggie’s body, even as they hurt for Ox. Jessie sobbed, anger and sorrow warring for space on her face. Joe whined, torn between defending his father and staying by his grieving mate’s side. Ox knelt next to his mother’s corpse, the Omegas forgotten, sobbing, “Why, why, why, please no, not her, not Mom, no, please no, _ WHY,” _ and there was too much going on, too much at once, Gordo didn’t know what to do, where to turn. Ox was his tether, and the bonds told him to go to him first, to make sure he was okay. Mark was his mate, and his heart told him to stay by his side. Thomas was his Alpha, and his magic told him to protect, to defend, to attack. 

But then suddenly, Ox rose up. He took his crowbar and he swung with a heavy hand, tears flying from his eyes, screams falling from his mouth. He killed two Omegas. Elizabeth killed another. Carter and Kelly killed two more. Thomas took care of a sixth, but he was bleeding heavily, his movements slower than they should’ve been. He was limping, and his wounds weren’t healing. 

Joe shifted completely and jumped into the chaos, snapping and tearing. Mark growled and swiped his claws in the air, blood arcing into the sky. Elizabeth moved in front of Thomas, teeth bared at the Omegas that were left. 

Marie appeared out of the shadows, pouncing on Thomas from behind. She delivered the final blow. She sank her teeth into his neck and _ ripped, _ and Joe _ roared. _He attacked, throwing her off of his father’s back and to the ground. Carter and Kelly helped their brother tear her to pieces. 

And then it was done. The few remaining Omegas weren’t fast enough to run before they were shot full with silver bullets. 

And then it was quiet. 

Maggie was dead. 

Thomas was on his way to dying. 

They were all wounded, their hearts more than their bodies. They all bled, inside more than out. 

Thomas somehow managed to stay alive for three more days after he shifted back to human, painfully and slowly. His family tried everything they could to sustain him, but nothing held. Gordo used his magic to take some of the pain away, as much of it as he could. But Thomas told him no. Thomas called Joe to his bedside and said, “I’m sorry. It shouldn’t have to be this way. But it has to be now.” 

And in the master bedroom of the Bennett house, where Thomas lay dying, seventeen-year-old Joe became the Alpha. 

Three days wasn’t nearly long enough to say goodbye. The Bennetts never left Thomas’s bedside, and he spoke to each member of the pack one by one before he passed, telling them they would have to be strong, they would have to try hard to be pack in the difficult days that would follow. Ox was a broken thing, numb and cold, but he stayed, too. Gordo looked back on that time with a haze over his memories, but he recalled the way he’d struggled, the way he’d tried to hold Mark and Ox up at the same time and he’d barely given any thought to holding himself up in the meantime.

It was hard. The pack struggled. They grieved and mourned and felt tremendous loss. They buried Thomas, and they buried Maggie, and the wolves urged the humans to stay away when more wolves came from the East, strange wolves, others who had known Thomas. The humans of the Bennett pack took the time to grieve together, clinging to each other in their sorrow. When they returned, they were aching, but they were healing.

Three days hadn’t been nearly long enough to say goodbye, but it was better than nothing, and the Bennetts did what they could. They did what they had to. While they dealt with the strange wolves from the East, while Joe, the new Alpha, did what he was called upon to do, Ox stayed with Gordo. The two of them mourned together, locking themselves away in Gordo’s house. They cried for Thomas and they cried for Maggie and they _ hurt _, but they held onto each other. Thomas had told them they would need to be pack. They would need each other.

Eventually, when the strange wolves left, Joe found Ox at Gordo’s house and it was their turn to hurt together. Mark found Gordo and it was their turn to cling to each other. Elizabeth shifted into a wolf and stayed that way for a long time. Carter and Kelly curled around each other and didn’t let go. 

It took what felt like a very long time for their hearts to stop hurting. The bonds between them flickered and pulsed, and each one of them felt the other’s emotions, amplified by a hundred. Joe was suffering under the weight of a burden he was too young to bear. Ox was mourning a mother and a father at once. Elizabeth was agonizing over the loss of a mate. 

It would have been very easy for them to get lost. It would have been very easy for them all to break under the weight of what they carried, together and alone. For a long time, all they felt was blue.

But they remembered Thomas’s words through their grief. Pack. They had to be pack. Without that, there was nothing, and they needed it to make them strong. 

Gordo thought maybe that was why things happened the way they did, after. Maybe they made the choices they did because it made the pack stronger, because it made the bonds more unbreakable. Because they needed to fill the holes that had been left. They needed to gain back what they’d lost. 

A month after the twin losses of Maggie and Thomas, Joe made a decision. He was the Alpha of all now, and the wolves that had come from the East wanted him to do what his father never had and return with them to Maine. Joe sidestepped and evaded, telling them he had his own pack to worry about before he could think about any others. In the meantime, they appointed an interim Alpha, a woman named Michelle Hughes. When a month had passed and Joe still hadn’t taken the position he was meant to, Hughes sent an ambassador to Green Creek. His name was Philip Pappas, and when he came, Joe had a message for him. 

The Bennett pack was still in mourning. They still hurt, but it was starting to hurt a little less the more they clung to each other. The blue was starting to lighten.

When Philip Pappas arrived, Joe said, “I won’t be going back to Maine. I’ll be the Alpha of all, but I’m staying here. In Green Creek. I’m staying with my mate and my pack. This is my territory. It was my father’s territory before me and his father’s before him. I won’t leave it. He wouldn’t have wanted me to.” 

Gordo thought he was right about that. Thomas had always loved Green Creek. And even though he’d left it, even though he’d abandoned it and left Gordo alone there, by then Gordo had forgiven him. He was sorry they hadn’t had more time to repair their relationship. Sorry he’d spent so much time being angry. 

Not many people were happy with Joe’s decision, but the people that mattered were. 

Joe said headquarters would stay in Maine, and he would work out of Green Creek. But he would elect a new Alpha to take over the operations of Michelle Hughes. He didn’t trust her. There had been rumors that she’d once worked with Robert Livingstone, and that was enough to take her out of the circle of the Bennetts’ favor. She was angry about it, but there was nothing she could do against Joe. Joe selected one of his father’s old friends to helm the headquarters in Maine, and he began to focus on rebuilding his pack. 

On the heels of tragedy came happiness, a series of events that made the Bennett pack whole again. So much of it was green.

It started with Mark and Gordo. They were mates, always, but they hadn’t mated yet. They’d only been just about to bridge the gap between them when the Omegas had come, and they’d spent the time since then grieving. When things were starting to feel halfway to okay again, Mark went to Gordo and said, “Please. I can’t do this anymore, not with everything that’s happened. I need you in my life, Gordo, and I want you by my side for as long as I live. I don’t want to keep waiting. I love you, I love you, I love you. Marry me.” 

It was impulsive, spurred on by the need to have something good, something warm, something to hold them up while they still processed their loss. And for a moment Gordo could only stand there in shock. 

But really, there was only one answer. 

Despite everything, he’d never stopped loving Mark Bennett. 

He remembered the words Mark had once said to him, looking at the Bennett pack of the past. _ “This is us. This is our pack. This is our happiness. I want this. With you. One day, when we’ve both grown up. _”

He wanted a future, a family, their own little pack, and Gordo realized he wanted it too. He’d always wanted it. He was sorry it had taken this much terrible loss for him to see that. He was sorry about a lot of things. 

But that was the point Gordo began to only look forward, and never back. 

They were married on a Saturday in May, surrounded by their pack. The whole wedding was held in the backyard of the Bennett house, and Gordo remembered every detail of the day etched into his brain. He remembered every line of his and Mark’s vows. Remembered Ox walking him down the aisle, a smile on his face, the first real smile Gordo had seen from him since Maggie and Thomas died. He remembered feeling something slide into place, something settle across the pack bonds. He remembered the look on Mark’s face when he saw Gordo come out of the house in his tux. He remembered the way Mark had kissed him, and the way it had felt like green and _ finally. _

And he remembered every detail of the night after, when they’d mated. Mark’s bite on his shoulder and Gordo’s raven on Mark’s neck. The way it had felt like _ home. _

Mark moved in with him. They didn’t have much of a honeymoon, but they didn’t need one. 

After that, Joe turned eighteen, and he and Ox mated almost immediately afterward. They needed it, after what they’d been through. They deserved it. If they’d been inseparable before, they were even more so then. Ox was still human, but when he mated with the Alpha, something changed in him. The whole pack felt when it happened, and no one could explain it. It was just . . . Ox. He’d always been special. Thomas always knew there was something about him. 

A year after that, Mark said to Gordo, “What do you think about having a kid?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trigger warning for pregnancy/birth for this one!

They adopted Marty as a baby from a trusted agency Elizabeth recommended. He was a human child, but when he was eighteen, if he wanted it, they both agreed he could take the bite. He’d always be pack either way. 

Gordo didn’t realize how badly he wanted a kid until he held Marty in his arms for the first time. Until he saw Mark cry when they took him home. They turned the spare bedroom into a nursery, walls painted with Elizabeth’s careful hand, a forest scene spreading out around the room, wolves running between trees under a starry sky and a full moon. 

When Gordo told Ox they were thinking of adopting, Ox had smiled and said, “You’re gonna be the best dad.” To this day, Gordo denied tearing up at that, but he did. 

The whole pack took to the idea of adding a new member almost immediately. Chris and Tanner and Rico made fun of Gordo for wanting to be a dad, teasing him that they never would have pictured it. He’d have to start making dad jokes now, they said. Start wearing tucked-in shirts and socks with sandals. They bought him a “World’s Best Dad” mug and cheesy gifts. But all three were beyond excited at the idea of being uncles. Jessie bought piles of clothes for the baby. Elizabeth dug through Carter and Kelly and Joe’s hand-me-downs and delivered boxes of them to Gordo and Mark’s house. Joe said, “I think you guys need this. I’m happy for you. He’ll grow up so loved.” There was a flash of something in his eyes, a flash of longing that Gordo decided not to say anything about.

For months after they brought Marty home, Gordo and Mark hardly ever wanted to let go of him. He was perfect. He was beautiful because he was their son. Everything was green and wonderful. There were late nights when he’d wake them up crying, long hours where he’d fuss and scream, but Gordo wouldn’t have changed any of it. He loved it. He was surprised at how easily he adjusted to fatherhood. Mark was perfect at it from the beginning, of course. He’d always wanted a family of his own, a life with Gordo, and now that he had it, he was at peace. Content. Happy.

“Thomas would’ve been proud,” Mark whispered one day as he and Gordo watched Marty sleep. The baby held tight to Mark’s finger while he slept on Gordo’s chest. 

“I think so, too,” Gordo whispered back. 

Mark kissed him, and things felt complete. 

They documented everything. Marty’s first word - “Car,” because Gordo started taking him to the garage even before he could walk - his first steps, the first time he slept all the way through the night, the first full sentence he strung together. His first tooth, his first birthday, every milestone, every moment. All of it was precious, and Gordo treasured everything. There was a part of him that still couldn’t believe he got to have this. That this was his life now. 

Only a year after Marty came into the picture, Ox proposed to Joe. He was inspired by Mark and Gordo, by what they had. He wanted it for himself. Maybe not kids, not just yet, but he knew he wanted Joe to be his husband. It was inevitable; they were mates, and it was always going to happen. Joe said yes before Ox had even finished asking the question.

They were married on a crisp fall evening in September, leaves falling all around them, sun setting in the sky. Marty was the ring bearer, carried down the aisle by Gordo. The baby giggled when the grooms took the rings, and the whole world lit up. 

They both cried when they kissed. They danced together afterward, fairy lights strung up around the yard of the Bennett house. It was perfect. There was so much green.

After that, finally, Ox took the bite. 

Joe turned him right before Halloween. Ox’s wolf was black as the night, huge and gnarly. 

His eyes were red. 

No one could explain it. But at the same time, no one was really surprised. Ox was . . . Ox. He was special. He’d always been that way. Thomas had known it from the beginning, and the whole pack had already felt it by then. 

Suddenly the Bennett pack had two Alphas, and it should’ve been a big deal, but it wasn’t. It just felt . . . right. 

The wolves back East wanted answers, but the Bennetts had none to give. And really, they didn’t have to. Joe was the Alpha of all. 

Things were good, after that. Happy. Peaceful. The pack was almost whole again, almost fully healed after the loss they’d suffered. It still hurt, sometimes. It always would. But they had each other. And that would always be true, too. 

Ox took to being a wolf like he’d been born for it, and Gordo thought maybe he had been. He was a natural at it. And a natural Alpha, too. Leading in tandem with Joe was easy for him. They were yin and yang, perfectly balanced. 

In April, a surprise happened. No one was expecting it. No one had thought it was possible. Joe had been on a low dosage of testosterone since he was sixteen, and birth control on top of that. Ox said they were always careful when they had sex. They’d done it without a condom only a few times, but they didn’t think there’d be a risk. They’d never talked about kids before, not seriously. 

Joe said, “Ox, I think I’m pregnant,” and the whole pack felt the surge of complicated emotions that washed through their Alphas - black fear, muddy anxiety, a sickly shade of worry, a little bit of blue leaking from the edges; protectiveness,  _ lovelovelove  _ and  _ matematemate _ and such warmth, the colors of pack and family flickering through the bonds.

Ox said, “I love you. So much. We’ll figure this out together.”

Joe asked, “Do you want to do this? Do you think we can?”

Ox said, “ _ Yes,  _ Joe, yes, I know we can.” 

And Joe took a deep breath and said, “Okay.” And he  _ smiled.  _ And there was such a deep green that the whole pack sighed.

It was a rough nine months. It wasn’t an easy pregnancy. The first trimester was fine, but the second was worse. Joe was sick a lot, practically bedbound the more his belly swelled and grew, and Ox didn’t know how to handle it. He tried to be calm for the rest of the pack, and he tried to be the Alpha they needed him to be. But his mate’s condition kept him in a state of constant anxiety. Whenever Joe needed something, Ox was there. He was the most attentive husband and mate Gordo had ever seen, and it made his heart twist to watch. It made him proud. 

There were good moments interspersed with the nervous ones. The pack was Ox’s tether, and they kept him from going over the edge. They kept him calm. When Joe found out he was having a girl, Elizabeth and Jessie hugged each other. Carter and Kelly teared up at the thought of a niece. Mark said, “She’ll be perfect. Marty’s already excited about having someone to play with.” 

The first time the baby kicked, the whole pack surrounded Joe’s bedside and put their hands on his stomach. The look on Ox’s face when he felt it against his hand was pure wonder, like he was experiencing joy for the first time. He’d laughed, quiet and reverent. He’d kissed Joe senseless and said, “Our baby. Our baby.”

“Yeah, Ox,” Joe said, tears pricking the corners of his eyes as he smiled. “Our baby.”

Things were busy, with Carter and Kelly starting their business, Mark and Gordo raising Marty, Jessie being promoted at the school, and the shop boys thinking about expanding the garage. Elizabeth prepared the old house for the arrival of her granddaughter. The old house, where Ox and Maggie used to live, had become Ox and Joe’s private space when they needed it. They’d renovated it and turned it into their home. Joe stayed in the Bennett house during his pregnancy, but when the baby was born, they would move back into the blue house. 

In December, the Bennett house was made up for Christmas, and snow fell on the ground outside. There was a giant tree in the living room, chopped down and dragged into the house by Carter and Kelly. Everyone had helped decorate it with tinsel and lights and years-worth of ornaments from the Bennett brothers’ childhoods. There were already presents under it, though it was a few days to Christmas. Judy Garland played on Elizabeth’s old record player, holiday classics drifting through the halls. The fire crackled in the fireplace where stockings hung on the mantle, and the house smelled sweet, like sugar and cinnamon and vanilla and so much gingerbread, Elizabeth’s cooking making them all hungry. Ox helped Joe out of their room and down the hall, holding onto his arm and supporting his weight. Joe had a hand on his round belly as he waddled into the living room, leaning against Ox. He looked more tired than usual, but there was a smile on his face. There were candy canes hanging from the tree. He picked one off and gave it to Ox, who looked at him with such love in his eyes that Gordo felt his own eyes well up. Being a father had made him softer than ever. He cried at almost everything now. Mark thought it was sweet. Gordo thought it was a nuisance.

Ox helped Joe sit on the couch, hands so gentle on him. “You feel okay?”

“I’m good,” Joe said with a reassuring smile. “It’s not as bad today.” 

Ox kissed him sweetly, and then sat next to him on the couch, bent down and kissed the top of Joe’s distended belly. He whispered something into Joe’s skin and put his hand against it, and Joe watched him with shining eyes. 

“You look ready to pop,” Carter said when he came into the living room with a gingerbread cookie in his mouth. “I can’t believe you haven’t burst yet. The due date is days away, right?”

“Next week,” Joe said, leaning back into the couch cushions. “Day before New Year’s Eve.” As if any of them could forget. As if they didn’t all have it marked on their calendars. As if they hadn’t been waiting for it for months. 

“You guys have a name picked out yet?” Kelly asked, sitting down in front of the tree. Ox and Joe looked at each other and smiled. The topic of the baby’s name had been a popular discussion during Sunday dinners over the past nine months, but Ox and Joe were always casual and noncommittal about it, keeping their options open.

“Yeah,” Ox said. “Calla. After Callaway. For my mom.” 

“That’s perfect,” Gordo said quietly. “She would’ve liked that.” 

“Calla Matheson,” Mark tried it out on his tongue, and he smiled his secret smile. “Sounds beautiful.”

Joe had taken Ox’s last name when they married. Ox said he didn’t have to, but Joe said he wanted it, that he was proud of what Ox had made the name Matheson mean, that it had always meant something to him, and he wanted to share it. Ox had cried a little when he said that. 

Gordo took the Bennett name when he married Mark. His father had been dead a long time, but the Livingstone brand still meant danger to some people, and it was a thing Gordo didn’t want to be attached to anymore. 

“Are you giving her a middle name?” Gordo asked the Alphas. Marty didn’t have one, though Rico had insisted it should be Pepe. He still called him that. Annoyingly, Marty always responded to it. 

“Yeah,” Joe said, wincing slightly as he shifted on the couch. Concern flashed across Ox’s face instantly, but Joe waved it away as he settled again. “Beth.” For Elizabeth. Of course.

“I love it,” Elizabeth said as she came into the room, bending down to kiss the top of Joe’s head. “It’s beautiful. Calla Beth Matheson. She’s my little angel.” 

Calla was already spoiled beyond belief, as much as if not more so than Marty had been. She already had piles of clothes and toys. Her nursery in the old house was painted yellow and pink and orange, a sunset with birds flying in the sky. She had a little wolf stuffed animal that Carter and Kelly had bought her. The mobile that hung above her crib was made of stars and moons. Marty couldn’t stop babbling about her - he was three years old and giddy at the idea of having a baby cousin. He’d already drawn her ten pictures, ravens and wolves and humans on construction paper. Joe and Ox had them hung up around her nursery. 

Calla would be a wolf, maybe even the future Alpha, and Gordo and Mark had explained to their son what that would mean. They were raising Marty as pack in every way they could, and they’d already shown him the wolves - Gordo had held him as they’d watched Mark shift in front of Marty for the first time. Gordo was worried, at first, that his son would be scared. But he’d just watched with wide, blinking eyes. When Mark licked his hand, he’d giggled and clapped delightedly. He said, “Doggy!” and patted Mark’s head. 

“Wolf,” Gordo corrected as Mark’s tongue lolled out of his mouth in a grin. 

“Woof!” Marty said, bunching his fingers in Mark’s fur. 

After that, they’d brought him to the Bennett house and had him watch the rest of the pack shift. He was fascinated with Joe and Ox the most, probably because of their red eyes. When he’d adjusted to the wolves, Gordo showed his son magic. Marty had been mesmerized by the way his father’s tattoos moved, and he’d pressed his fingers to the skin, making little “Ooooh” sounds. Gordo did small tricks for him that he loved - he made flowers grow, called the earth to him, and he made the tattoos glow light. Marty liked that the most. 

He was running around the Christmas tree now, touching all the presents that sat underneath it. “And this one’s for Daddy and this one’s for Aunt Lizzie and this one’s for Uncle Ox and this one’s for Uncle Joe and this one’s for Uncle Carter and this  _ other  _ one’s for Uncle Carter, and this one’s for Uncle Kelly and  _ this  _ one’s for Daddy too. There’s lotsa presents here.” 

“Yeah? How many?” Mark asked, watching his son with a smile on his face. 

“Like, four hundred,” Marty said. Carter burst out laughing, and Kelly grinned. Ox and Joe smiled. 

“Are there any for you?” Gordo asked as Marty ran around the tree again, a ball of energy hopped up on cookies. 

“Yeah, I get the most,” Marty said as he jumped onto Mark and tackled him to the ground. Mark tickled him and Marty screamed. 

“And why’s that, huh?” Mark asked as Marty laughed and tried to get away from him. “Why do you get the most?”

“‘Cuz I’m the boss!” 

“Is that right?” Gordo grinned, and Marty nodded confidently. 

“Uh-huh. And since I’m the boss I should get to open one.”

“Not yet, bud,” Mark said. “We have to wait until Christmas.” 

“But why?”

“It’s tradition.”

“Turdition,” Marty repeated, pulling a candy cane off the tree and handing it to Mark. “Here, Daddy.” He pulled off another one and handed it to Gordo. 

“Ox, will you - ” Gordo heard Joe start to say behind him before there was a gasp of pain. “Oh,  _ fuck. _ ”

“Joe?” Ox was immediately off the couch, hovering over Joe. “What’s happening? Are you okay? Is Calla okay?”

“Uncle Joe said a bad word!” Marty said before Mark pulled him into his lap and shushed him. Everyone stood up, immediately on guard as Ox helped Joe up from the couch. Joe was holding his stomach, his face twisted in pain. 

“I think - shit,  _ ow  _ \- I think my water just broke.” 

“Holy shit,” Carter said, eyes wide. 

“Let’s call the doctor,” Elizabeth said calmly, moving to her son’s side. “Ox, let’s take him to the bedroom and get him settled, shall we?”

“It’s too early,” Ox shook his head, looking panicked. “The due date isn’t until next week, there must be something wrong - ”

“Ox,” Elizabeth said, her tone firm. “Deep breaths. Joe, you too. Kelly, please call Dr. Reynolds and have her come to the house.” They’d flown in a doctor from Maine, one who was a wolf and one who’d been in the family for generations. She’d helped Elizabeth deliver Carter and Kelly. She’d been staying in Green Creek during most of Joe’s third trimester, and she was on call in case anything happened. 

The baby wasn’t supposed to come this early. Gordo shared a worried look with Mark, and he could see the tight purse of Elizabeth’s mouth. She was concerned. 

But there was no one more panicked than Ox, who looked more terrified than Gordo had ever seen him. The humans of the pack weren’t here right now, but Gordo knew they’d be able to feel it and they’d come running. 

“Stay here,” Gordo told Mark as he followed Ox, Joe and Elizabeth to the bedroom. If he could take some of Joe’s pain, he would. 

Mark nodded and whispered something to Marty, who looked slightly scared now. Kelly had his phone to his ear and Carter was watching his youngest brother with lines between his eyes. 

Joe started screaming even before they’d gotten him into bed. 

Elizabeth got his pants off and put a blanket over his knees for modesty, and Ox stayed by his husband’s side, clutching his hand tightly. “Joe, hey, look at me, baby, look at me, I’m here, it’s gonna be okay. I love you, I’m here, you’re gonna be okay.” 

“Ox, I’m scared,” Joe said, tears streaming from his eyes. “I don’t know what’s wrong - ” His words were cut off when he screamed again, and Gordo came forward to put a hand on his arm, trying to take away the pain. 

“I know you’re scared, baby, I am too,” Ox said. “But it’s gonna be okay, we’ll get through this. Just hold my hand and don’t let go.”

Gordo remembered everything about that day. The doctor arrived quickly, and Joe almost passed out from the pain five minutes after she started working on him. Ox almost shifted, but by then, the rest of the pack was close enough to keep him tethered. Gordo never took his hand away from Joe’s arm, clenching his teeth and grimacing through the pain he absorbed. 

They had to do an emergency C-section. Joe couldn’t push the baby out because she was stuck. Gordo felt like it took the whole night, but he knew it was only a few hours. By the end of it, everyone was exhausted. Gordo was sweating, Elizabeth was crying, and Ox and Joe were worn out, barely hanging on. 

When Dr. Reynolds cleaned Calla, wrapped her up in a blanket, and put her on Joe’s chest, Joe burst into tears. Ox leaned his head against Joe’s and didn’t move away for a long, long time. 

“She’s perfectly healthy,” Dr. Reynolds announced. “If she were human, it’d be a different story. There would be much higher risks. But because she’s a wolf, she’ll be fine. I think she was just sick of being in the womb and wanted to see the world.” She smiled, and Elizabeth thanked her. 

“My baby,” Joe wept as he held his daughter close. “My beautiful baby girl. Ox, look at her. Look at what we made together. She’s perfect. So, so perfect.” 

“Our daughter,” Ox said so quietly, the look on his face one of worship. 

“Calla Beth Matheson,” Gordo whispered. He smiled when Ox looked at him. “You did good, Ox. I’m proud of you.” 

Ox’s eyes welled up, and he hugged Gordo tightly. 

“Welcome to the world, little one,” Elizabeth said gently as she sniffled, wiping her eyes. She put her hand on Calla’s tiny head, and then bent forward and kissed Joe’s cheek. “Welcome to our pack.” 

There was so much green. 

*

Six months later, and here they all were, sitting in the Bennett backyard as they digested another Sunday dinner. Joe had healed quickly from the C-section, and Calla was still healthy, strong though she was small. Marty loved her. He was fascinated with everything she did, and Gordo had the inkling of a thought that someday in the future, they’d have to think about giving him a younger brother or sister. Maybe. He and Mark hadn’t talked about the possibility of having more kids yet. 

“Do you think you’ll ever have another one?” Gordo asked Ox where the Alpha sat beside him, watching over his family with a look of peace on his face. His expression pinched when Gordo asked the question. 

“I don’t know if Joe can,” he said quietly. “I don’t know if I want to go through that again, even if he could.” 

“Do you know if Calla will be an Alpha yet?”

“I think so,” Ox said, voice soft. “Joe says she is.” If she was, they wouldn’t have to have another one. But despite Ox’s worries, Gordo thought maybe he wanted it. He’d said only moments ago that he liked having a big pack. He liked having a family of his own. 

Gordo remembered the size of the Bennett pack from his past, how many kids there’d been running around the property. The pack as it was now wasn’t anywhere close to that size yet, but maybe one day they could be. 

“Joe still holding off on any surgeries?” Gordo asked quietly so his voice wouldn’t carry. 

Ox nodded, his eyes never moving from where his husband sat with their daughter on the blanket in the grass. “He says he’s thinking about top surgery when Calla weans off of breastfeeding. But besides that, he’s happy with his body as it is. The hormones are enough for him.” 

“You never know,” Gordo said with a shrug. “If the doctors say it’s possible, he might still be able to have another one.” 

“We’ll see,” Ox said, nodding slowly. “Maybe when Calla is three or four. And if not, there are other avenues to take.” He turned to Gordo with a smile. “What about you guys?”

“I think Mark might want more,” Gordo admitted. “I haven’t asked him yet.” 

“Think Rico will end up getting Bambi pregnant and we’ll have their kid to worry about?” Ox asked, which made Gordo choke. Recently Rico had started seeing a woman named Bambi, and it seemed pretty serious. She wasn’t quite pack yet, but it would happen soon enough. 

“God, I hope not,” Gordo said. “The world doesn’t need a mini-Rico running around.” 

Ox laughed, and the sound of it made the whole yard warm. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they meet uwu 
> 
> mark and gordo leave marty with the babysitter so they can have a sexy date

Robbie was early. Gordo didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad sign. 

He was already in a booth when Mark and Gordo arrived at the diner, five minutes ahead of the meeting time they’d scheduled. Gordo exchanged a look with his husband and rolled his eyes at Mark’s grin. 

“He’s punctual,” Mark said. “So we know he’ll never be late if he needs to pick Marty up from somewhere.” 

Gordo sighed. 

Robbie stood to greet them when they approached the booth, a brilliant smile on his face. “Hi, Mr. Bennett? I’m Robbie Fontaine, nice to meet you.” He shook Mark’s hand, and then Gordo’s. “Thank you so much for allowing me this opportunity.” 

Mark’s eyes widened when they shook hands, and he sniffed the air subtly. “You’re a wolf.”

Gordo’s eyes snapped to Robbie’s face. He would trust a human stranger in Green Creek more than he would trust a wolf. He knew this was a bad idea.

“I am,” Robbie said, looking slightly guilty. “And you are too. And you’re a witch.” He looked at Gordo, eyes big. “The Livingstone witch.” All of Gordo’s warning bells went off at once. 

But the wards . . . the wards were fine. He didn’t know when Robbie had come to town, but he hadn’t felt a disturbance in the wards since the Omegas years ago.

“Let’s sit down,” Mark suggested, gesturing to the booth. Mark and Gordo sat across from Robbie. “You can call me Mark, and this is my mate, Gordo.”

“Why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about yourself,” Gordo said, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to look intimidating. It didn’t seem to work as much as he would’ve liked, and Mark nudged him underneath the table. “Like why you lied to us. And why you’re here.”

“Well, I can’t exactly put the fact that I’m a wolf in my profile, so it’s not technically a lie,” Robbie said, trying to laugh and falling silent under Gordo’s gaze. 

“Do you know who we are?” Mark asked, his face serious. “What pack we’re part of?”

“The Bennetts,” Robbie said, nodding. “Everyone knows who you are. But that’s - when you reached out to set up an interview, I just - I promise you I didn’t come to Green Creek with the intention of seeking you out. I mean no harm. I’m here for myself, but when you contacted me asking to meet, my curiosity got the better of me. I apologize if I’ve overstepped or done anything wrong.” 

“You haven’t,” Mark said before Gordo could say anything. “Not yet, at least. We’re just wary of strangers here. You must know why.” 

“Of course,” Robbie said. “I understand. I’m so sorry for your loss. Thomas’s death was a blow to all of us.” 

Gordo’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Where are you from?”

Robbie bit his lip, hesitating before he answered. “I’m originally from Maine. After my mother died, I was taken in by some other wolves up there, and I stayed with them for a while. For a few years, I worked under Michelle Hughes, but that was until the Alpha claimed his rightful position and she stepped down. After that, I didn’t have a real purpose. Michael let me go, said I could travel, do what I wanted. No one sent me here. I promise.” 

Michael Wexler was the wolf that Joe had selected to run things in Maine while he stayed in Green Creek. So far, he’d been doing a good job, and Green Creek was mostly left alone. The Bennetts were left to do as they pleased. Joe spent long hours in his father’s old office occasionally, but there were never any serious issues.

“I believe you,” Mark said, even if Gordo didn’t. The mention of Michelle Hughes had him on edge. He’d never liked her.

“Since I left Maine, I’ve been from place to place,” Robbie explained. “I’ve visited other packs, but I usually don’t stay for too long, so I’ve spent a lot of time around humans, too. And I’ve worked with kids, wolves and humans both. Wherever I stayed, I was always appointed the babysitter when it was needed. I went to school for child development and I had a steady job at a human daycare for a while before I decided to move here.”

“You don’t have a pack?” Gordo said. He didn’t like any of this. “How are you not Omega?”

“I have a tether,” Robbie said. “It was my mom before she died, and now it’s just the memory of her. I’ve always had that, even if I’ve never really belonged anywhere.” His voice got a little quieter at that, and despite himself, Gordo felt a small pang of sympathy in his chest.

“And what exactly brought you to Green Creek?” Mark asked, his tone even as he looked at Robbie. 

“I guess I was just drawn here,” Robbie said, shrugging. “No other place I’ve stayed has ever felt permanent, but there’s something about this place that really just . . . it makes me feel at home. And honestly, I’ve been away from Maine for so long that I forgot about the Bennett pack until I saw your message on my profile.”

Gordo and Mark looked at each other. Gordo didn’t like it, but he could see that Mark thought it was believable. A coincidence, a twist of fate. Not a plan to check up on the Bennetts. Not anything designed to hurt them. Just a random happenstance of things. 

Gordo didn’t know if he believed in coincidences, especially when it came to Green Creek. 

“Please,” Robbie said beseechingly, leaning forward a little into the table. “I promise you, I would never hurt anyone. If you give me the chance, I’d love the opportunity to babysit for you, and I’d really like to get to know your family. I love kids more than anything. I’d love some of my own someday, and I just want to be able to do what makes me happy.” 

After a long moment of Mark and Gordo having a silent argument with each other with their eyes, Gordo said, “We’ll be bringing your name up with our Alpha to see if your story checks out. Then we’ll see about you meeting our kid.” 

Robbie’s smile was relieved, and his eyes were bright. “Thank you! Thank you so much. You won’t regret it, I promise.” 

“Slow your roll, kid. No promises yet.” 

“What Gordo means to say is that it will take a little time before we’ll be able to trust you,” Mark said gently, a small smile on his face. “But I’m optimistic. I like you, Robbie, and I think you’re telling the truth. You seem genuine, and I consider myself a fairly good judge of character.”

Gordo scoffed. “You married me, so maybe not.” 

Robbie laughed, and then hid it behind his hand when Gordo glared at him. He blushed in embarrassment. 

Mark grinned. 

*

“His mother was a good person,” Elizabeth said when they brought his name up with the pack later that night. “I knew her well, once. How funny that he’d end up in Green Creek. The world works in mysterious ways.”

“Does it?” Gordo asked. “I don’t want to invite him into our home if he’s gonna be a danger to us. I don’t want him around my son if he’ll put Marty in harm’s way.” 

“I don’t think he will,” Joe said, cradling Calla against his chest. “I trust Michael, and he says Robbie is a good guy. It’s Michelle Hughes we would’ve had to worry about, but she’s being watched. Michael says Robbie was always innocent.” 

“He seems it,” Mark said, putting his arm around Gordo’s waist to pull him closer. Whatever tension Gordo had been feeling before instantly melted away, and he sighed, leaning into his mate. Mark kissed his temple. 

Calla shifted and made an unhappy sound in Joe’s arms, and Joe’s attention was immediately on her as he looked down and kissed the top of her head. “Shh, sweetheart.” He held her a different way, putting her head on his shoulder, against his neck, and Calla quieted, closing her eyes as Joe swayed from side to side to rock her to sleep. Gordo smiled. Joe was good with a kid. Fatherhood suited him well. It reminded Gordo of the way Thomas had been when Carter was born. 

Ox was just as good at it, if a bit overprotective of his daughter, though she was only six months old. But no one blamed him, not with the fear he’d had during the birth that he might lose her and Joe. 

“I’d like to meet Robbie,” Elizabeth said with a decisive nod, bringing Gordo’s attention back to the matter at hand. “It would be lovely to see how Beatrice’s son has grown up.” 

“Once you invite him to your place and get Marty comfortable around him, bring him over,” Joe suggested in a quiet voice so he wouldn’t disturb the baby dozing off against his shoulder. 

“We will,” Mark said. “I think it will be good.” He smiled, and Gordo rolled his eyes. 

“You just think he’s cute,” he joked. 

“He is,” Mark said, which made Joe laugh. Elizabeth smirked. Gordo scoffed. 

“He’s alright,” he grumbled. Not that he’d noticed or paid any particular attention to detail. 

“Hmm,” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and hummed, and Gordo made an annoyed noise and turned to go get Marty. Mark’s laugh echoed behind him as he followed. 

*

“Are you excited to meet Robbie tomorrow, buddy?” Mark asked as they drove home that night, Marty strapped in the backseat. He kicked his legs in his car seat, looking out the window. 

“Only if he lets me try on his glasses,” he said, which made Gordo smile. “Can I get glasses?”

“Maybe,” Mark said before Gordo could tell him no. “It depends if you need them.”

“But I need them,” Marty insisted in that confident way he spoke when he was trying to convince his dads of something. 

“Really? Are your eyes blurry?” 

“No, but I need them to be more smarter.” 

“You’re smart on your own, bud. You don’t need glasses for that.” 

“I guess I am pretty smart. I know about woofs.” Marty was ever proud of the wolves because they were his favorite thing. Gordo didn’t know what they would have done if Marty had been scared of them. Gordo was amazed at his son’s capacity for understanding. Things were always simple for Marty. He saw something, and he accepted it, unless his dads taught him differently. But then, maybe that was just true for all children. Ox had been sixteen when he found out about wolves, and he’d adjusted to it quickly. His worldview shifted in a second to accommodate the fact that werewolves existed. Marty was three, and the first time he’d seen his father shift into a wolf, he’d gasped. He’d been scared, a little, but more for Mark than anything else. 

All Gordo had to do was point to the big brown wolf and say, “That’s Daddy, kiddo. He’s still in there. He’s just a little different.” 

Mark shifted back and forth in front of him a few more times before he really got it, but after that, it was easy. It was the same with magic. He asked questions, of course, as any child would - why couldn’t  _ he _ turn into a wolf, why couldn’t  _ he _ have pretty pictures on his arms that glowed (when he’d asked that, Gordo had to leave the room, hit by memories of his father burning ink into his skin) - but any answers Mark and Gordo gave were usually enough for Marty. 

“You can turn into a wolf when you’re older,” was the answer to the first question. “But only if you want to.” They’d decided when Marty was two that when he was grown, when he was old enough to make the decision for himself, Joe or Ox would offer him the bite. They’d give him the option when he turned eighteen, and it would be his choice and his alone. Human or not, he’d always be pack.

“Give us some wolf facts,” Mark said as he turned the car onto the road that lead to home. 

“Woofs travel in packs,” Marty said, raising his voice like he did when he got excited. “We have a pack. Pack means family and ours is good. There’s red woofs which is the Alphas, they’re the leaders. Uncle Joe and Uncle Ox are the leaders. Then there’s orange woofs which are all the rest of them, except for purple woofs which are bad and mean. Woofs howl at night when the moon is out ‘cuz the moon is what makes them woofs. When they howl it’s like they’re singing, like ‘Ooooooooooooooh!’” He imitated a wolf howl, and Mark grinned, immensely proud. “Awooooooooo! Like that. Sometimes they sing different songs. And uhhh, I also know that woofs can run really fast and they’re  _ super  _ strong, and they like to hunt other aminals in the forest but that’s okay ‘cuz it’s called the life cycle and they need the other aminals to survive. Except for when the woofs turn back into human, then they can eat human food like Cheetos.”

“That’s right,” Mark said, glancing at Marty in the rearview mirror. “What else? What’s the difference between regular wolves and our kind of wolves?”

“Our kind of woofs is werewoofs,” Marty said. “And werewoofs are special. Normal woofs are just like dogs except they can’t live in houses and they don’t turn to human.”

“Good,” Gordo said. “And what else? What’s the most important thing we tell you about the wolves?”

Marty didn’t even hesitate when he said, “I can’t tell anyone about woofs ‘cuz they’re ‘sposed to be a secret.” 

“See?” Mark said with a smile. “You don’t need glasses to be smart.”

“Yeah, but I want them to be cool.”

“We’ll get you some cool sunglasses,” Gordo compromised. 

“Hmmm. Okay.”

“Now tell me some facts about witches.” 

By the time they got home, Marty was half-asleep, still mumbling things about witches and wolves. 

*

“Can I try on your glasses?” 

It was the first thing Marty said to Robbie when they met at the diner. Gordo wanted them to meet in neutral territory before they invited Robbie to their house, and everyone had agreed. 

“Sure,” Robbie said, taking off his glasses and handing them to Marty. Marty gasped and put them on. They were too big on him, and they looked ridiculous, but also adorable. They practically swallowed his face and slid down his nose. Marty looked around the diner with wide, blinking eyes, mouth open. 

“Whoa.” He took them off and handed them back to Robbie, who grinned. “Can you see far in them?”

“Pretty far,” Robbie said, his tone light and playful. “Almost to the moon.”

“That’s  _ far. _ I like the moon.”

“Do you? Me too.” Robbie’s smile was warm, and Mark nudged Gordo with a look in his eyes. Gordo sighed. 

“Daddy says you’re gonna be my new babysitter,” Marty said as he colored on the kid’s menu with the crayons their waitress had given him. 

“I might be,” Robbie said with a smile and a cautious glance at Mark and Gordo. “I want to be. Do you want me to be?”

“Well, I like your glasses. And we both like the moon. That’s good.” 

“It is good.” Robbie grinned. 

Gordo watched their interaction, equal parts annoyed, relieved, and amazed. Marty was never like this with strangers. He hardly spoke to people who weren’t pack. Occasionally he would babble to people who came into the garage when Gordo took him to work, but when others spoke to him first, he was usually shy. The fact that he seemed so comfortable with Robbie so quickly made Gordo feel . . . he didn’t know. He didn’t know how he felt about it. 

He knew Mark was never going to shut up about it now, and he was annoyed in advance for the comments he’d get from him. 

But Gordo supposed it was a good thing. If this hadn’t worked, their other options would’ve been slim. 

He was just going to have to get used to Robbie. 

*

“His bedtime is usually 7 or 8,” Gordo said, pointing to the third bullet listed on the paper. “There’s dinner in the fridge, if he doesn’t finish it all that’s okay, just make sure you get him to eat as much as you can. He likes a story before bed. You can make one up if he doesn’t want to read one of the books he has; he usually likes things about wolves, but don’t give him nightmares. Sometimes it takes a while for him to fall asleep- just play some quiet music for him until he does. Got all that?”

“Yes,” Robbie said, nodding seriously as he took the paper from Gordo. It had an intensive list of instructions and directions on it, and Gordo had gone over every detail with Robbie twice. Tonight was the first night they were leaving Marty with him, and he was going out of his mind with worry. Mark assured him it was going to be fine, but even his mate’s calming demeanor couldn’t ease Gordo’s tension. They’d never left Marty with a stranger before. And though Mark trusted Robbie enough and the pack confirmed he was who he said he was, Gordo couldn’t help but worry. If anything happened to Marty, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. 

“I promise he’ll be fine, Mr. Bennett,” Robbie said gently, a soft smile on his face. “I won’t let anything happen to your son. He’ll be safe with me. We’ll probably hang out, color some pictures, do a couple puzzles. I know what I’m doing. Trust me.” 

Gordo grimaced. “You can call me Gordo.” 

Robbie’s cheeks colored a little. “Okay.” He looked away, reading over the list of instructions again. “I’ll follow this exactly.”

“You’d better. Any questions about anything?”

“No, but I’ll text you if anything comes up,” Robbie promised. 

“Thanks again,” Mark said, coming up behind Gordo to put a hand on his back. He rubbed it soothingly. “We’re heading out now.”

“I hope you guys have fun,” Robbie said with a grin. When Mark raised an eyebrow at him, he blushed and looked at the ground, and Mark smiled. Gordo’s eyes narrowed. “Uh, so, you said you’ll be back at eleven?”

“Midnight at the latest,” Mark said. “After Marty goes to sleep, feel free to hang out, watch TV, get comfortable. The pantry’s full if you want some snacks, and if you want something to read, our bookshelf is in the living room.” 

“Thank you,” Robbie said, lifting his eyes to Mark’s again. He smiled almost shyly, and when his eyes flickered to Gordo, he cleared his throat and looked away, eyes darting to the paper he still held. “I’ll go help Marty with his puzzle.” 

He went down the hall to Marty’s room, and Gordo watched him go, feeling uneasy. Mark continued to rub his back, dipping his head to kiss Gordo’s shoulder. 

“Relax, honey. He’ll be fine.” He moved his lips up to Gordo’s neck, pressing them in a soft kiss against his skin. “Can you stop worrying enough to enjoy our first date night in months?”

Gordo fought off a smile, but he couldn’t resist for long. He turned his face into Mark’s and kissed him, shoulders slumping as some of his tension slipped from him. 

“Come on,” he said, taking Mark’s hand and pulling him towards the front door. “Wine and dine me, Mr. Bennett.” 

*

They had a reservation at Green Creek’s nicest restaurant, and Mark acted like they were kids again and he was courting Gordo for the first time. Gordo found it unbelievably endearing. He loved his husband so much. 

Mark held his hand, held the door open for him, pulled his chair out for him at the restaurant. They played footsie under the table and laughed. Gordo checked his phone often, just to make sure there weren’t any messages from Robbie saying something had gone horribly wrong and Marty was hurt, but his screen stayed blank, and after a while, he put it in his pocket and didn’t take it out again. Being with Mark was enough to take his fears and anxieties away. It always was. 

They ate like kings, and Gordo drank enough to get himself suitably buzzed, enough so that he was handsy with Mark before they even left the restaurant. Mark laughed and didn’t do anything to fend off Gordo’s affections. 

“Let’s go park somewhere private and fool around in the car,” Gordo whispered in Mark’s ear, kissing his jaw. Mark grinned, eyes beautiful and bright and full of love. 

“Yeah?” he said, taking Gordo’s hand and holding it tight. “I like that idea. And I think I know just the place.” 

“Take me there.” 

They drove to a lookout spot on a cliff, almost outside of Green Creek. The town spread out below them, and there was no one around to see Mark park the truck, to see Gordo climb over the center console and into his husband’s lap. Mark laughed as he pushed the seat back so Gordo would have more room. Gordo kissed him messily, grinding down on his lap. Mark groaned and fisted his hands in Gordo’s shirt. 

“I missed you,” Mark said against Gordo’s lips. “Missed this.” Since they’d adopted Marty, most of their times being intimate were always interrupted. It was nice to be alone and not have to worry about anything else. It was nice to be able to focus only on each other. 

“Show me how much,” Gordo whispered in Mark’s ear as he bit down gently on it. Mark growled and pulled Gordo closer, tightening his arms around him. 

“Careful, Mr. Bennett. You’re gonna get yourself in trouble if you keep talking like that.” There was a low pitch to Mark’s voice that made Gordo’s spine curl, a gasp leaving his mouth. 

“Maybe I want to be in trouble,” he said as he bit down on Mark’s lower lip this time. Mark growled again and brought one hand to Gordo’s crotch, pressing down on it. Gordo moaned, and Mark smirked. 

“Tell me how you want it,” Mark whispered, running a finger along the side of Gordo’s face. Gordo whispered in his husband’s ear every dirty thing he wanted him to do to him now that they were finally alone, and not five minutes later, Gordo was riding Mark hard in the front seat of the truck. 

It was the best night Gordo had in a long time, and by the end of it, he was ravaged and covered in hickeys. They would be impossible to hide and he’d have a hell of a time explaining them to Marty if he saw them, but he’d worry about that when it came to it. For now, he let Mark suck on his neck, tongue sliding over his skin. 

“We should get back,” Gordo muttered after some time had passed, the car windows fogged up with their breath. They were both half-naked, a little messy, but they liked it that way. 

Mark’s nose skimmed along Gordo’s neck, and his hand made its way down Gordo’s chest, tracing the ink burned into his skin. The car interior was lit up faintly as Gordo’s tattoos glowed. Mark seemed content just to sit there forever, basking in their post-sex glow, but it was almost midnight. They’d promised Robbie they wouldn’t be later than that. 

“Mark,” Gordo said after another five minutes of Mark softly kissing him. “We really should get cleaned up.” 

“Fine,” Mark said, sighing against Gordo’s lips. Gordo smiled and kissed him again, one more time. “But next weekend, I think we should do this again. Except this time we should go away and get a hotel somewhere. The whole weekend.” 

“I’m not leaving Marty with Robbie for a whole weekend. A few hours for one night is enough.” 

“Come on, baby,” Mark said gently, his tone placating. “I like Robbie. Marty likes him, too. I think it’ll be okay.” 

“You like Robbie, huh?” Gordo said, failing to keep the annoyance out of his voice. Mark smirked. 

“Yes, I do. He’s cute. And he’s honest. He’s good with Marty.”

“I don’t think you realize how inappropriate it is to keep calling our son’s babysitter cute.”

“You think he is too, though.”

“Fuck off. I do not.” 

Mark gave Gordo a look, which Gordo ignored. Mark laughed and nuzzled his neck again, biting down softly. “I love you. And I’m gonna convince you to take that weekend trip, just you wait.” 

Gordo didn’t bother to argue, because he knew Mark was probably right. 

*

“How was your date?” Robbie asked when Mark and Gordo walked into the house ten minutes past midnight. He’d been sitting in one of the chairs in the living room reading a book, but he put it down and stood up when they came in. He put his hands in his pockets and smiled, eyeing Gordo’s flushed cheeks and Mark’s mussed up hair that he hadn’t bothered to make neat. 

“Fantastic,” Mark said with a smile. “Thanks again for watching Marty. We really appreciate it. How was he?” 

“He was fine,” Robbie said. “Awesome, actually. No problems at all. We did some of his puzzle - got pretty far on it, I was impressed - and watched some nature documentaries until he got tired. He fell asleep a few hours ago.”

“And he didn’t ask about us? He wasn’t worried?” Gordo asked, finding it hard to believe that it had been that easy. 

“He just asked how long you’d be gone, but when I told him you’d be here when he woke up, he just said okay and asked for a story. I told him one about some wolves I used to know.” Mark and Gordo had already explained that Marty knew all about the wolves, so there were few topics that were off-limits. Robbie didn’t have to hide around Marty, though Gordo didn’t think it was a good idea for Robbie to shift in front of the kid just yet. 

“And he was talkative?” Mark asked, sounding pleased. “He was friendly with you?”

“Yeah. A little shy at first, but once we started getting into his puzzle he loosened up a little more.” Robbie smiled softly, his eyes warm. “He’s a really great kid. You guys should be proud.” 

“We are,” Mark said, returning Robbie’s smile. “Thank you.” He dug into his pocket for his wallet and counted out a hundred, which he handed to Robbie. “Here you go. Plus tip since we made you wait a bit.”

Robbie’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “Oh no, please, just my regular hourly rate is enough. You don’t need to pay me extra.”

“I want to,” Mark insisted, which made Gordo roll his eyes. “We’d be interested in having you back again, if you’d like that. We’re thinking of going on a trip next weekend.” 

“Maybe,” Gordo said, which made Mark smirk. 

“Would you be available?” Mark asked, sounding earnest. Robbie seemed surprised, but he cleared his throat and nodded. 

“I think so. I have to check my schedule, but I don’t think I have anything planned.”

“Perfect.” Mark’s smile was too bright. Gordo was going to give him such shit later. “Thanks again, Robbie. Really. We’re so grateful.” 

Robbie’s cheeks colored faintly, and he looked at the ground shyly. “It’s no problem. Like I said, I love kids. And Marty is really special. I’d love to watch him again.” 

“Well, we’d love to have you. We’ll keep in touch.” Mark stuck out his hand, and Robbie shook it with a smile. Gordo kept his arms crossed over his chest until Mark unsubtly nudged him with his elbow. Gordo sighed and extended his hand. Robbie shook it, cheeks reddening again. 

When he finally left, Gordo gave Mark a long look. Mark grinned shamelessly. “What?”

Gordo sighed and rolled his eyes, tugging his husband to their bedroom. They poked their heads into Marty’s room first to see him sleeping soundly in his bed, his room faintly lit up with the glow-in-the-dark stars and moons stuck to his ceiling. Gordo left the bedroom door cracked open just enough to let the hall light in, in case Marty woke up and needed them for something. 

“He’s fine,” Mark whispered in Gordo’s ear as he pulled him down the hall. “You worry too much.”

“I worry as much as I need to,” Gordo whispered back. 

“And I love you very much for that.” Mark kissed him, and Gordo tried not to swoon. Tried. It didn’t really work. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mark and gordo go away on a weekend trip, leaving marty with robbie for three whole days. they have a conversation about budding feelings for robbie.

It took about three days before Mark convinced Gordo to go away on that weekend trip. 

Gordo tried to resist. He really did. But he knew it was going to be impossible the moment Mark brought the trip up. 

They would be going out of town, to a nice little tourist area on the coast of Oregon. Mark had already booked the hotel and was planning out an itinerary. 

“Call it a belated anniversary trip,” Mark said, a smile on his face and in his eyes. Their wedding anniversary had come and gone a month ago, but they hadn’t done much other than go out to dinner. Four years they’d been married now, and it already felt like a lifetime. And they still had so many years ahead of them. 

When Gordo thought about the trip that way, as an anniversary getaway, he felt more inclined to go. 

Mark thought they should introduce Robbie to the pack before they left. If they were going away for a whole weekend, it would be good if Robbie had other resources and numbers to call if he needed help with Marty. Gordo begrudgingly agreed. 

Robbie joined them for Sunday dinner that week. He was nervous, especially in the face of Elizabeth and Joe. Elizabeth was a legend, and Joe was the Alpha, and then there was Ox, and Calla, and Gordo could tell it was overwhelming. But Robbie held his own. He shook everyone’s hands and cooed over Calla and spoke with reverence and respect to Joe and Ox. He was charming. Annoyingly so. 

Marty was excited that he joined them for Sunday dinner, because he knew how important those dinners were. He spoke animatedly to Robbie while they helped set the table. 

“And my cousin Callie, she’s only a baby, but I love her. I think she’s cool. She can’t talk yet but sometimes she says stuff that are just weird noises, and I make them back at her so she knows I can understand. I like drawing her pitchers.” (His word for pictures.) “When she’s older we gonna be best friends forever, but since I’m older den her I havta make sure I watch out for her.

“You should come to Uncle Carter and Uncle Kelly’s store! They got music. There’s books there too and some movies, but a lotta music. Do you like music?”

“I do,” Robbie said with a smile. Mark was watching them with a soft look in his eyes, and Gordo was trying not to be affected by it. It wasn’t quite working. “What kind of music do you like?”

“I like  _ rock _ music with guitars n’ stuff. Uncle Carter says he can teach me to play the dums.” (Drums. Gordo was so looking forward to the day when they had to buy him a drum set, and he and Mark wouldn’t get any sleep for the rest of their lives.)

“Cool,” Robbie said. “You could be in a band one day. A rockstar.” 

“Yeah, a rockstar! Maybe I’ll be that when I grow up. But I think I wanna be a puzzler. I like puzzles.” 

“That’s cool too,” Robbie said. “I think we’ll get to finish that big one in your room soon. It was almost done when I was over there.” 

“Yeah! And den we can do anodder one,  _ or  _ we can do it again!”

“Whatever you want, kid. You’ve got a lot of puzzles, I hear.”

“Yeah, a lot. A whole collection.” 

“You can show me soon,” Robbie said as he reached over to ruffle Marty’s hair. And Marty let him. He was smiling up at Robbie, tugging on his shirt every time Robbie’s eyes left his face. 

When they were done setting the table, Marty toddled toward the living room and said, “I gotta show you more stuff! Aunt Lizzie has lotsa toys. Wanna see?”

“Sure,” Robbie said easily, taking Marty’s hand as he was lead into the living room. Gordo watched them go, amazed. 

“Don’t take too long,” Elizabeth called after them gently as she placed a salad bowl on the table, her eyes fond. “Remember, Marty, dinner is almost ready.”

“I know, Aunt Lizzie, I’m just gonna show him my dinosaurs, okay? Just my dinosaurs and den my lizards.” He liked lizards almost as much as he liked wolves, and Gordo thought one day soon they’d have to get him a pet gecko or something. 

“Alright,” Elizabeth said with a smile. “The dinosaurs and the lizards, and then dinner.”

“Den dinner,” Marty repeated. Robbie threw a grin over his shoulder as Marty pulled him away, and Gordo was momentarily caught off guard by it. 

“I like him, Gordo,” Elizabeth said in a hushed voice when Robbie was gone. She smiled at her brother-in-law. “He’s kind. Genuine. Very much like his mother.” 

“I like him, too,” Joe said, catching the tail end of the conversation as he came into the kitchen from the backyard. “He seems like a good guy.”

“He fits,” Ox chimed in as he followed Joe into the house, holding Calla on his hip. He cooed at her when she made that gurgling noise that babies were so good at. “You know he does.”

“God dammit,” Gordo said. 

Mark laughed. 

*

“How long are you gonna be gone?” The look on Marty’s face was almost enough to keep Gordo there, to tell Mark to cancel the reservations and stay home. But Mark stepped in before Gordo could let his doubt get the best of him.

“Just the weekend, buddy,” he said, leaning forward to kiss the top of Marty’s head. “Three days. But you know what? We won’t be very far. And if you need us, you tell Robbie and he’ll call, okay?”

“Robbie will stay with me?” Marty asked, perking up a little. 

“The whole time. And you’ll have Aunt Lizzie and Aunt Jessie and all your uncles. Papa and I are just going away on a trip.” 

“But why can’t I come?”

“Because it’s a special trip, just for me and Daddy,” Gordo said. He scooped Marty up from where he was sitting in his chair at the kitchen table just because he wanted to hold him. He wanted to get all his hugs and kisses in before he had to be without them for a weekend. “But the weekend will be over before you know it, and we’ll be back. Robbie will hang out with you and take you to do some fun things, okay?” 

“Okay.” Marty frowned a little and sighed, leaning his head against Gordo’s shoulder. Gordo squeezed him and kissed his forehead. “I’ll miss you.”

“We’ll miss you too, buddy,” Mark said, putting his arms around Gordo to hug them both. “But it’s not forever, okay? Just a couple days.” 

“And when we get back, maybe we can go on a trip for all three of us. Maybe even the rest of the pack can come.” They hadn’t had a family vacation in . . . well, ever. The Bennetts weren’t really the family vacation type. They took small trips every now and then, weekend forays to the nearby beach, trips into the city, but they’d never gone too far away from the territory. Leaving it unprotected wasn’t something any of them wanted to do. 

But the thought of a vacation surprisingly wasn’t all that terrible to Gordo. Maybe not anything as grand as Disneyland - Marty wouldn’t do well with the crowds anyway - but somewhere with mountains would be nice. A quiet little cabin, a lake nearby. 

“Can Robbie come?” Marty asked, perking up again. Gordo had to restrain himself from sighing, which earned him a knowing look and a smirk from Mark. 

“Sure, if he wants to,” Mark said before his husband could say anything. Gordo grit his teeth. 

“Okay! I’ll tell him. Is he coming over again?”

“Tomorrow, when we leave.” Gordo put Marty back down in his seat and pushed his plate towards him. “Eat, bud. You’re not going to bed until you get food in your belly.” 

“But I don’t like it.”

“Too bad. That’s what we made, so that’s what you’re eating.”

“You get extra ice cream for dessert if you eat it all,” Mark bribed him, which made Gordo glare. Mark just grinned. 

“With sprinklies?”

“With sprinklies,” Mark promised. 

Marty made a big show of shoveling his food in his mouth and making disgusted faces. Gordo’s glare gave way to a grin, and he shook his head as he watched Marty. Mark ruffled their son’s hair. 

All three of them shared the ice cream when Marty was done. 

*

“I promise I’ll send you guys updates every day,” Robbie said as Mark loaded his and Gordo’s bags into their car. Marty was trying to help by putting his favorite stuffed animal in the trunk. It was a stuffed wolf he called Alphie, and it was one of his most prized possessions. He slept with it by his side every night. Whenever Mark or Gordo tucked him into bed, Marty insisted they say goodnight to Alphie too. Gordo was absurdly touched by the gesture, especially since he knew how much Marty loved that thing. 

“Thank you,” he said to Robbie, who smiled and did that godforsaken blushing thing again. Gordo pretended not to notice. He didn’t like the implications of it, or that it seemed to keep happening. 

“Is it cool if I take him somewhere while you guys are gone?” Robbie asked, looking between Mark and Gordo. “Not far. I was thinking maybe we could go to the aquarium in Eugene, or the zoo there.” 

“He’d love that,” Mark said. “Keep the receipts for the tickets and whatever food you buy and we’ll reimburse you for them.” 

“You don’t need to do that,” Robbie said, waving a hand in the air dismissively. “It’s really not necessary. I’m happy to pay.” 

“Stop,” Gordo said a little too roughly. “Jesus, you’re too nice. We’ll pay you.” 

Robbie looked chagrined when he looked down at the ground and said, “Okay,” quietly, and Gordo felt a little bad when Mark gave him a stern look. He sighed. 

“Sorry,” he said gruffly. “Just . . . we’re the parents. You’re the babysitter. We hired you. We’re supposed to pay you.” 

“I apologize for my husband,” Mark said, patting Robbie’s shoulder. Robbie blushed again. “Grumpy Gordo doesn’t mean to be such an ass. He can’t help it sometimes.” 

“Hey! Daddy, you said a bad word!” Marty put his hand over his mouth and whispered scandalously, “ _ Ass. _ ” 

“Marty, what have we told you?” Gordo frowned at his son, whose eyes were wide. “No repeating the bad words, no matter how much we say them.” 

“Not until you’re at least thirteen,” Mark added, which made Gordo smirk. Marty nodded, folding his hands behind his back. 

“Okay. Sorry. But Daddy said it first!”

“Sorry, bud,” Mark said, doing his best to look apologetic. “I’ll try not to do it again.”

“Yeah, right. You always say that and you always still keep saying bad words. But it’s okay. Papa does it more than you.”

“Guilty,” Gordo said with a shrug. Mark gave him one of those looks that left Gordo feeling faintly flustered, the look and the adoring, blinding smile that said  _ God, I love you so damn much.  _ He knew it well because he gave it to Mark just as often. Gordo was putty in Mark’s hands under that look, so he swallowed his pride and said, “I’m sorry, Robbie.” 

Robbie lifted his eyes and smiled at him, and Gordo had to look away again. 

“It’s alright,” Robbie said. “I’ll keep the receipts.” 

Gordo nodded as he finished packing up the car. He crouched down beside Marty, who was tucking Alphie gently between the bags in the trunk, arranging the stuffed animal’s tufted ears. 

“You sure you want to let Alphie come with us, kiddo?” he asked, reaching up to run a hand through Marty’s hair. Marty looked just a tiny bit anxious about the thought of having to spend the weekend without his favorite toy, but he nodded firmly. 

“Yeah, Papa,” he said, squirming into Gordo’s arms for a tight hug. Gordo squeezed his son and tried not to tear up at the thought of leaving him. It was only a weekend, just three days, but they hadn’t ever been apart for that long. 

Gordo was putting his faith and trust in Robbie to take care of his son, to make sure he’d be safe. 

Somehow, when he looked back at Robbie, he found it was a little easier than expected. It should’ve been harder. They still barely knew him, and it had only been a handful of days since they’d left him alone with Marty for one night - now they were going away for three whole days? He didn’t know why Mark’s trust in Robbie had built up so quickly, and he had no idea why he was going along with it. 

He didn’t know what to do with any of it. 

“Here’s the house keys,” Mark said, handing over their keys to Robbie. “But you’re more than welcome to take him to your apartment, if you’d like.” Gordo opened his mouth to protest that - they hadn’t been to Robbie’s apartment, they didn’t even know where he lived - but he shut it and grit his teeth. Robbie nodded, putting the keys in his pocket. “The guest room is set up for you for the weekend, and Marty should have everything he needs. There’s a list of the pack’s phone numbers on the kitchen table.”

“Got it,” Robbie said, lifting his chin when Gordo picked Marty up and carried him over to them. “We’re gonna have a blast, right, Marty?”

“Yeah.” Marty’s voice was quiet, as if only now realizing that his fathers were leaving him. He sighed and hugged Gordo tightly, arms around his neck. Gordo tried not to tear up. Mark wrapped his arms around them both, kissing the top of Marty’s head. Robbie watched them, a soft smile on his face. 

“We’ll be back soon, bud,” Mark promised gently, taking Marty from Gordo’s arms. Marty nodded and hugged Mark for a long time. “I promise, we won’t ever leave you. You know that. Papa and I will always be here.” 

“I can use a phone?” Marty asked quietly when he pulled his head away from Mark’s neck. “If I wanna tell you something?”

“Of course you can,” Gordo said. “Robbie will show you how. He’ll call us, and you can talk to us.” 

“Okay,” Marty said. His chin wobbled a little, but he sniffled and held his head high, like he was trying to be brave. “Den you can go. Alphie will keep you safe.” 

“Thank you for letting us borrow him,” Mark said with a smile. “We’ll bring him back home safely. And we’ll send Robbie pictures so you know he’s okay.” Mark squeezed their son one more time before he said, “Can I give you to Robbie now?” 

Marty nodded and let himself be transferred to Robbie’s arms. He leaned his head against Robbie’s shoulder, and Robbie held him tight. The sight of his son in Robbie’s arms did something strange to Gordo’s chest that he didn’t want to examine too closely. 

He couldn’t believe they were doing this. Letting a man who was still virtually a stranger stay in their house for three days alone with their son. It shouldn’t have happened this quickly, this level of trust. 

But the pack claimed he fit after only having met him hours before. Mark trusted him. Mark liked him. And Gordo trusted his husband. 

He just didn’t quite trust the complicated feelings his heart seemed to be having. 

“Hey,” Robbie said before they could get in the car. “I just wanted to say, I - ” He paused, as if gathering his courage, and then barreled on: “I just want to say thank you. For trusting me with Marty. Again, and especially for a whole weekend. It really means a lot that you even gave me a chance, and I hope I can have the opportunity to get to know you guys more. And the rest of your pack.” 

Those complicated feelings in Gordo’s heart got even more twisted up and tangled, and he couldn’t speak. He looked at Mark. Mark always had the words when Gordo could never get his feelings out. 

But Mark looked struck by Robbie’s words too. His eyes were wide, and it took him a minute to compose himself. He cleared his throat and smiled, but Gordo could see his eyes shining. 

“I think you’ll get that opportunity,” he said, voice soft. “We want to get to know you more, too. And I know our pack likes you.” 

“Really?” Robbie grinned, his excitement palpable. “That’s great, that’s - really awesome.” 

“We should get going,” Gordo said, tugging Mark towards the car. He didn’t want to stand here any longer or he might just burst out and say something stupid.

“Right,” Mark said, taking his husband’s hand. “Robbie, text or call if you need anything, alright? Don’t hesitate. And have fun. Keep Marty safe.”

“I will,” Robbie said, hugging Marty close to his chest. “I promise.” 

“Bye, Daddy. Bye, Papa.” Marty waved, and Gordo leaned in and kissed his little hand. 

“Bye, kiddo. We’ll be back soon. We love you.”

“I love you too,” Marty said. 

“See you soon,” Robbie said, small smile on his face. “We’ll be here when you get back.” 

And that - the way he said it, something in his voice, the look on his face, Gordo didn’t know - was enough emotion for one day. Gordo pulled Mark to the car and they got in. 

Gordo really needed a cigarette, so he reached into the glove compartment for the gum he kept there instead. 

  
  


*

“Do I need to bring up the elephant in the room?”  
They were an hour on the road, Mark driving, the radio turned to Gordo’s favorite station. Leaving Marty had been hard, but not as painful as he thought. He’d watched Robbie as he got smaller in the rearview mirror, holding Marty in his arms, the both of them waving at the car as it drove away. When they were out of sight, it took Gordo about twenty minutes of brooding before it hit him that he and Mark were going to be alone, really _alone, _for a whole weekend. He’d grinned, and the first red light they hit, he leaned over the gear shift and kissed Mark. 

For the last hour, the conversation had been about the plans Mark had made for them, the little itinerary he’d put together for their trip to the coastal town. Then Gordo had asked if he thought Marty would be okay, and Mark sighed. 

“What do you have against Robbie?” 

“I don’t have anything  _ against  _ him,” Gordo tried feebly to defend himself. 

“I thought you were okay with this. With getting a babysitter for Marty. We agreed it would be good for us.” Mark turned down the radio, which almost made Gordo groan. He didn’t want to have this conversation now. 

It was Gordo’s turn to sigh, leaning his head back against his seat. Mark was patiently silent, waiting for his response. 

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Gordo said, not looking at Mark. 

“I do,” Mark said. He cleared his throat. “This might be . . . difficult. To hear. And to process. But I know you, baby, and I don’t want you to keep pushing this down just because you think it might change things.”

“Mark - “

“I like him, Gordo. I really, really like him.”

Gordo closed his eyes. 

“I know you feel the same way, but you don’t want to admit it because you’re stubborn. But this is me, Gordo. Your husband. Your mate. You can’t lie to me.” 

“Fine,” Gordo growled. “He’s cute, yeah. Whatever. But that doesn’t mean we have to act on it. He’s our kid’s babysitter, Mark. And he’s - ”

“It doesn’t matter,” Mark said, squeezing the steering wheel a little. “You might not be feeling it as strongly because you’re pushing it down, but I felt it the moment we met him. He belongs with us. The rest of the pack feels it too.”

“Oh, he  _ belongs  _ with us,” Gordo sneered, the smallest bit of jealousy flaring in his chest. It was small, but oh, how it burned. It was shocking in its heat, and he knew Mark felt it through their bond as mates. 

“Honey,” Mark said quietly, voice soft. “I love you. You know I love you. I will  _ always  _ love you. Robbie doesn’t - he couldn’t - nothing will ever change that. I know this is . . . different. But it doesn’t have to be a bad different.” 

“What are you even suggesting?” Gordo asked, a thousand emotions rolling around in his head and heart. Anger was one of them, not necessarily at Mark, but at the whole situation. Annoyance. Irritation. Fear and uncertainty. And a painful almost sort of longing. That was the one he tried to push down the most, the one he didn’t want to face right at the moment. Even if Mark was telling him it was okay. The fact that Gordo could be genuinely interested in someone besides Mark, and that Mark shared those feelings, was surprising to say the least. But that wasn’t the issue.

“That we see where it goes,” Mark said slowly, cautiously. “We ask him to stay for dinner. Just with us, at our place. Not the pack. And then we take it as it comes from there. We get to know him better. Let him get to know us.” 

“Do we have to talk about this now?” Gordo asked, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “We’re supposed to be on an anniversary trip. I would like to actually enjoy it, if that’s possible.”

“Gordo.” Mark’s voice was stern, and damn it, but it had an effect on Gordo. It always did when Mark sounded like that. “Don’t do this. Please. Not with me.”

“I just - ”

“Why are you scared?”

“I’m not scared - ”

“Gordo - ”

“What if it doesn’t work out? What if he doesn’t feel the same way?”

Mark fell silent. The tires spun on the road outside the car, the engine softly accelerating. They were well out of Green Creek by now, and if Gordo squinted, he could see the ocean through the trees. 

That was the real reason behind his uncertainty. If he got his own heart broken, he could handle that. He could get over it. But he wouldn’t let it happen to Mark. Gordo had broken his own mate’s heart too many times to ever let himself or anyone else do it ever again.

“I think it’s worth the risk,” Mark finally said. “I think it’s worth taking the chance.” When Gordo didn’t say anything in reply, Mark reached over and took his hand. He squeezed it, just once. “Do you trust me?”

“Always,” Gordo responded immediately.

“Then trust me on this. I would never let you get hurt, baby. Robbie . . . he feels something. For both of us. I know it.” 

Gordo almost chuckled. Mark was worried about  _ him _ getting hurt.

This was all just a bucket of complicated crap, and Gordo didn’t know how to deal with it. Their lives had been easy before this. Simple. Relatively speaking, anyway.

“It’s only been a couple weeks since we’ve known him,” he said, one last attempt at trying to find his way out of this. Mark gave him a look. Time like that didn’t matter, not to people like them. And Gordo knew that. When a wolf knew, a wolf knew, the bonds reaching across threads to connect to their mates and their pack. And because he was part of the pack, Gordo had felt it happen. When Robbie joined them for Sunday dinner. Faintly, when Mark smiled at Robbie and Robbie smiled back. Just a whisper when Robbie blushed and averted his eyes from Gordo’s. Much stronger when Marty lit up around Robbie, happy and babbling. 

But that didn’t negate the fact that they still barely knew him. Gordo knew Mark had offered the right solution - get to know him better. Gordo was just annoyed at the fact that those feelings would always be there now that he’d acknowledged them. Those bonds would always be buried there, and it wouldn’t matter if they got to know Robbie or not. 

Sometimes, even after all these years, he still hated werewolves and everything that came along with them. 

But that wasn’t really true, and he knew it wasn’t. 

He sighed again. Mark twined their fingers together. His smile was sympathetic, understanding, patient, and Gordo let his reservations melt away. 

“Okay,” he said, squeezing Mark’s hand. “Okay. Fine. We see where it goes.” God only knew where that would be. Gordo couldn’t even think that far ahead. That way lay danger.

Mark’s smile lit up the car. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SOME SMUT AHEAD ENJOY
> 
> mark and gordo finally get some alone time, and while they're gone, the alphas of the bennett pack have a conversation with robbie.

“Oh fuck, Mark,  _ fuck,  _ God, right there!” Gordo’s hand made a fist in the hotel bed sheets, his legs up in the air and thrown over Mark’s shoulders as his husband fucked him with abandon. It had been a long time since they’d gotten to do this, and Gordo was going to savor every minute. Mark’s cock drilled into him, thick and heavy, and Gordo saw stars as his head fell back against the pillow, mouth open on a moan. Mark was growling above him, a shudder rolling through him as he thrust forward, one of his hands furiously stripping Gordo’s hard cock.

“That’s right,” Mark said, biting the skin of Gordo’s leg. “That’s right, baby. Who do you belong to?”

“You, asshole,” Gordo grit out through his teeth as Mark dug his thumb hard into Gordo’s slit. “Oh  _ fuck,  _ Jesus, I belong to you. You, you, you.” 

“Damn right you do.” Mark shoved his cock deeper and hit Gordo’s prostate, and Gordo let out a cry he was sure the other people in the hotel could hear. Mark’s hand on his cock was rough and hot, just the way he liked it. Every other day, Mark was gentle. He was kind and sweet and soft, and he was romantic as all hell. When he wanted to take his time with Gordo, he didn’t just fuck him, he made love to him, slowly and torturously, drawing out every last bit of pleasure.

But this wasn’t one of those times. This was the rough, fast, dirty sex that Gordo so often loved, the possessive and animalistic side of Mark that he rarely got to see anymore since they’d adopted Marty. It was fun to try to get this side of his husband to make an appearance, and doubly fun whenever he succeeded. 

They’d been on each other almost as soon as they walked into their suite at the hotel, dropping their bags on the floor and pawing at each other. Mark pushed Gordo up against the wall and held him there for a bit, grinding hard against him while he sucked on his tongue. Gordo had wrangled Mark into switching positions so he could slide to his knees on the floor and suck on Mark’s cock, the blowjob messy and sloppy and rushed. Mark had already come on Gordo’s face before he tossed him onto the bed, tearing at his clothes. 

Gordo’s stomach was streaked with his own come, having blown his load once already when Mark enthusiastically rimmed his ass before he fucked him. Gordo was close to coming again, but Mark’s hand around his cock was a warning. Mark looked down at him, eyes blown wide. 

“Don’t you even think about it,” he growled, his wolf close to the surface. Gordo flipped him off, and Mark gave a punishing thrust, his cock filling Gordo deep. Mark looked smug at the noise Gordo made. “You can come when I tell you to.”

“Fuck,” Gordo moaned again, losing himself to the pleasure. He arched up to meet Mark’s thrusts, shoving his cock deeper. “Jesus Christ, Mark.”

“Yeah? You like that?” Mark used the hand that wasn’t on Gordo’s cock to tease his nipples, tweaking them with a twist of his fingers. Gordo gasped, the tattoos on his arms flaring. His whole body felt warm and buzzing, waves of pleasure rippling through him. 

“Come in me,” Gordo demanded, clenching his hole around Mark’s cock. Mark shuddered, leaning down to kiss his husband messily. Gordo’s nails scraped lines down Mark’s back as he said again, “Come in me, Mark. In my ass. I want it.” 

“Yeah, baby, I’ll give it to you, I’ll come in you,” Mark babbled as he kissed his way down Gordo’s neck, curling his tongue against his sweat-dampened skin. “I’ll give you everything you want.”

They were kissing when Mark came, his cock pulsing in Gordo’s ass. Gordo clenched around him and wrapped his legs around Mark’s waist, slowly fucking himself on Mark’s dick, trying to get him to come deeper. He closed his eyes and let Mark make a mess of his neck, falling back into the mountain of pillows beneath them. 

“I fucking love you,” Mark said, dirty grin on his face as he sucked on the spot just above Gordo’s collarbone. Gordo grinned back, chest heaving while his heart slowed down. He chuckled and ran a hand through his sweaty hair, aching pleasantly. They were getting old for sex this rough. He was exhausted, and he knew he’d be sore later. But God, he loved it. 

“I hope you didn’t have anything else on the itinerary for today,” he said, pulling Mark up next to him so they could cuddle. “‘Cause we’re taking a nap now.” 

“Just dinner,” Mark said, wrapping his arms around Gordo’s waist and pulling him close so they could spoon. “I figured this was where things would end up.”

“Oh, yeah? Smug bastard.” 

“ _ Your _ smug bastard.”

“Cheesy smug bastard.” 

Mark smiled and kissed the spot under Gordo’s ear, tracing the shell of it with his nose. Gordo nestled against him and closed his eyes. He would never get tired of having this. Of being able to feel Mark Bennett’s touch. Being able to wake up in his arms every morning, tasting him whenever he wanted. Falling asleep with him every night.

As they drifted off to sleep without bothering to shower, Gordo wondered what it might be like to have another body in the bed with them. 

*

Their first call from Marty and Robbie didn’t come until Saturday morning, just as Mark and Gordo were getting ready for the day out Mark had planned for them. They’d gotten a few texts during dinner last night, but it was just Robbie telling them everything was going smoothly. He’d sent a picture of Marty hunched over one of his puzzles in his room, laser focused as he held up a piece with his tongue stuck out. 

Mark and Gordo had spent their first night away watching episodes of their favorite Netflix show in the hotel bed, snuggled up together while Gordo got drunk on wine and Mark pretended to fend off his husband’s inebriated advances. It wasn’t anything they couldn’t do at home, but the fact that they were alone, really alone, in a fancy hotel room with a beautiful view from the window made it special. Mark had sprung for the honeymoon suite at a nice hotel with a view overlooking a lake, and he spent the whole night treating Gordo like he was a king. Gordo knew Mark was just doing it to charm him. It was working, but he would never say that. 

This morning, Mark said they were going hiking. Gordo had let Mark plan the whole weekend without asking any questions, so everything they were doing would be a surprise to him. He didn’t mind hiking, though. It was a good start. 

Mark’s phone chimed with an incoming FaceTime request as they were pulling their shorts and sneakers on. When he answered it, he was greeted by the sight of Marty eating Cheerios, his face decorated by a milk mustache. “Daddy!” The phone shook dangerously, and there was a laugh on the other end of the line, followed by Robbie’s voice: “Here, why don’t you let me hold it while you eat?”

“Where’s Papa?” Gordo heard Marty ask. He was there in a second, coming up behind Mark so his face showed up on screen. Mark pulled back so they would both fit. Marty was sitting at the kitchen table, Robbie beside him while he held the phone out. Marty was destroying his breakfast. He was getting it everywhere while he tried to focus on his fathers and eat at the same time. Robbie was trying to clean it up with one hand while trying not to drop the phone with his other. Gordo couldn’t help smiling. 

“Right here, bud. How you doin’? Everything okay?”

“Yeah! We goin’ to da  _ aquarium  _ today. Fishies are there! And Robbie says there’s  _ penguins. _ Can you believe it?”

“Penguins, huh? Cool.” Gordo leaned his chin on Mark’s shoulder, and he felt Mark lean into him, eyes crinkling when he smiled. 

“I’ll take lotsa pitchers. Uncle Joe and Uncle Ox are coming too and they’re bringing Callie!”

“They are?” Mark’s eyebrows rose, pleasantly surprised. “That’s great.”

“They stopped by last night to make sure everything was going okay,” Robbie explained, and Mark and Gordo exchanged a look. “I mentioned I planned on taking Marty to the aquarium, and they asked if I wouldn’t mind them coming along.” 

“That’ll be fun,” Mark said. “I don’t think Calla’s ever been before. This might actually be her first official outing since she was born.” She was still only six months old, and Gordo knew babies weren’t fun to take anywhere for long periods of time, so the farthest Ox and Joe had ever taken their daughter was to the diner on Main, and Carter and Kelly’s store. Sometimes she went grocery shopping with Elizabeth, and she’d been to the garage once - only once; the noise was too much for her, and as soon as she started crying Ox took her outside - but that was far as her excursions went. The aquarium would be her first time being out of Green Creek. Gordo was almost sad he was going to miss it, if only because he would miss Ox wearing a Baby Bjorn.

Robbie smiled, and Gordo could see the warmth in his eyes even through the screen. His heart did a funny thing. “I have to admit I’m kinda nervous to be going out with the Alphas, but I’m looking forward to it.”

“You’ll be fine,” Mark assured him softly. “They try to be intimidating, but they’re both kind and gentle at heart.” 

“I . . . ” Robbie hesitated, a blush coloring his cheeks as he bit his lip on his next words. “I don’t know. Never mind.” He waved his hand in the air to dismiss the subject. “It’ll be fun, you’re right.”

“Keep us updated,” Gordo said. “We’re about to head out, so we’ve gotta go.”

“Where you goin’, Papa?” Marty asked curiously, Cheerios stuck to his cheek. 

“On a hike. Kinda like when we take you on walks through the woods.”

“Ooooh.” 

“Have fun at the aquarium, buddy,” Mark said, waving at the camera with his free hand. “You can tell us all about it when we get back.” 

“Okay. Bye, Daddy! Bye Papa!” Marty waved, and Robbie took the phone back, smiling at the screen. 

“Enjoy the hike,” he said. His smile was the last thing they saw on the screen before the call was disconnected. 

Gordo took the phone from Mark’s hand and dialed Ox’s number. 

The Alpha answered on the third ring, and Gordo could hear a fussy baby in the background before he heard Ox’s voice. 

“Gordo. What’s up? Why are you calling me on your trip?”

“Do you not trust Robbie? Is that why you’re going to the aquarium, to keep an eye on him?” Mark made a face at his husband, and Gordo turned his back on him. 

Ox sighed. “Shit. Hold on. Calla, sweetie, shhh. Let me just - Kelly, can you take her for a sec?”

There were shuffling sounds, muted voices, and then a door quietly shutting. “Ox. Just tell me. Do you trust him?”

“You know it isn’t that simple, Gordo. Joe and I, we have to watch out for the pack. I know Elizabeth likes him. We all do, but we’re the Alphas. We have to make sure for ourselves.”

Gordo wanted to be angry, wanted to use it as an excuse to deny the feelings he was having, but he knew Ox was right. He and Joe were the Alphas, and they were doing exactly what Thomas would’ve done. What Thomas had taught them both before he died. 

“Fine,” he grumbled. He heard Ox’s chuckle on the other end of the line, and he had to smile a little bit. Kid always got to him, even still. 

“Don’t fight this, Gordo.”

His smile turned into a frown. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh-huh. Now go be with Mark. I promise if there’s anything up with Robbie - which there isn’t - we’ll tell you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Have fun at the aquarium. Don’t fall into the shark tank.”

“I don’t think they have a shark tank.” 

“Whatever. I’ll talk to you later.” Gordo hung up on the sound of Ox’s laugh. When he turned back to Mark, his husband was smiling, and Gordo rolled his eyes. “What?”

“Nothing.” Mark shrugged and held out his hand. “Let’s go. Nature awaits.” Gordo had to stop himself from rolling his eyes again, but he took his husband’s hand and let himself be pulled out of the room. 

*

The weather that morning was perfect for a hike, the breeze cooling their skin as Mark and Gordo walked up the trail on the mountain nearby. They kept pace with each other, moving side-by-side. If one of them pulled ahead of the other, they would wait until the other caught up, and then they’d move again, always in synch. Birds called in the trees overhead, and Gordo could tell Mark was loving this, his eyes closed occasionally, smiling as he took in the scents of the mountain and forest around him. It wasn’t Green Creek, but it was still beautiful. 

Gordo didn’t feel a connection to this place like he did with their territory - there was no magic humming in his blood here - but he did still enjoy the woods. And he liked seeing Mark this way, happy and at peace. They held hands sometimes as they hiked up the path, heading towards the peak, where they’d have a view of the town and the water down below. They’d brought packs with them, filled with water bottles and a picnic for lunch. 

Gordo took lots of pictures to show Marty when they got back. Mark posed for some, smiling big, giving a thumbs-up to the camera. Gordo protested when Mark turned the camera on him and tried to get him to smile, but he gave in eventually when Mark kissed his cheek and snapped selfies. 

They didn’t have a lot of cell service on the mountain, which made Gordo slightly anxious. Mark kept reassuring him that everything was fine. They could trust Robbie to take care of Marty, and Ox and Joe were with them, too. Nothing was going to happen. 

Gordo believed him long enough for them to enjoy their picnic lunch, spread out on a nice grassy spot on the mountain’s peak, overlooking the town below them. The sun glittered on the surface of the lake, and Gordo found himself staring, lost in it for a while. He was distracted when Mark moved in to kiss him, tasting of the sandwiches they’d made. 

“Hey,” Gordo said, pushing his husband away lightly. “No. Not here. We’re in public.”

“And?” Mark asked, his smile dangerous. “There’s no one around. We’ve fucked in public before.” 

“That was before we became parents,” Gordo pointed out wryly. Mark kissed his neck. 

“What does that have to do with anything?” 

“Mark, I’m serious.”

“Gordo. When are we going to get to have this many opportunities to have sex again when we go back home?”

Gordo hated that Mark was right, but he was. With Marty around, they had to plan out their alone time, and there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t be interrupted. This weekend was the time for them to catch up on all the intimacy they’d missed. 

“Fine,” Gordo said as Mark pushed him back onto the ground. “Make it fast.”

“Hard and dirty. Just like you like it.” 

“Damn right I do.” Gordo grinned as Mark kissed him into silence, and then he let himself get lost in his husband. 

*

“So. Robbie,” Ox said as they stood by the otter exhibit. Robbie tried not to tense, but he didn’t know how successful he was. He’d been nervous to be going out with the Alphas of the Bennett pack, but he’d been trying not to show it since Ox and Joe had picked him and Marty up to go to the aquarium. They’d had a nice day so far - the weather was good for a trip like this, and Marty was babbling nonstop to his cousin Calla, even though she couldn’t understand. The baby made her gurgling and cooing noises, and Marty nodded along like he knew exactly what she was trying to say. Joe was pushing the stroller with his daughter in it, and Marty was walking alongside, pointing out all the different fish they passed. 

Ox and Robbie lingered behind, walking next to each other. Ox’s eyes never strayed too far from his mate and their daughter, and Robbie caught Joe looking back over his shoulder almost every five minutes. It was sweet. His heart ached to watch it, and longing filled his chest when he saw how the Alphas smiled at each other, how they looked at their daughter. He wanted that. What they had. He’d wanted it for a long time, though he supposed he’d never really let himself think about it for too long. 

“I can tell that you like being Marty’s sitter,” Ox said when Robbie made it clear he was listening. “And I get the feeling you’d like to stay. Here. In Green Creek.”

Robbie blushed, averting his eyes. “I . . . would like to, yes. I’m renting a room in town right now, but I’d like something more permanent, eventually. I feel comfortable here. Happy. Green Creek is . . . it’s special.”

“It is,” Ox agreed. He smiled. “I think you were meant to come here.” He could feel it, as it had been slowly building since they’d met Robbie. “I think there’s a place for you in our pack, if you’d like that.”

Robbie lifted his eyes to Ox’s face again, wide and disbelieving. “I would,” he said quickly. “I would love that. I’d be honored to be a part of your pack, Ox. It would mean so much to me.”

Ox put a hand on Robbie’s shoulder and squeezed it, able to feel the faint tinge of his emotions through the tentative bonds they were forming. He knew they would get stronger with time. 

Robbie looked back at Marty, who was grinning at the otters as they swam up to the glass. Marty was laughing with delight and pressing his face to the glass, blowing his cheeks out at the otters. When one of them put their paws up to the glass, Marty raised his hand to the other side, and baby Calla giggled and waved her pudgy fingers in the air, opening and closing her tiny fist. Joe was trying to get her to say the word ‘otter.’ The closest she could get was something that sounded like ‘obba.’ 

“I won’t pry into your business with Mark and Gordo, but you should know that they both care for you. Gordo won’t say it, but I know him. He likes you. And he and Mark would probably both like it if you stayed,” Ox said, making Robbie blush from his head to his toes. “Like I said, I won’t pry, and that’s all I’ll say about it. You’ll have to talk to them when they get back. But know that there’s a place for you with them, too.”

Robbie felt nerves making his stomach flutter. They were forgotten when Marty looked back at him, commanding his attention. “Robbie, look!  _ Otters. _ ”

Robbie smiled and bent down to Marty’s level, and the two of them watched the otters play. They took a picture for Mark and Gordo. Marty said he wanted a pet otter, and Robbie laughed, saying he’d have to talk to his parents about that. But for now, he could get a stuffed otter from the aquarium gift shop. 

There was an easy camaraderie between Robbie and Ox for the rest of the day, and it made something feel settled in Robbie’s chest. He didn’t know he’d been waiting for that conversation with Ox. Waiting to have confirmation that he was . . . accepted. Wanted. 

The next day, when they went to the zoo, it was Joe’s turn to talk with him. This conversation somehow made Robbie more nervous. Maybe because Joe was a Bennett, the son of Thomas, the Alpha of all. Robbie had heard countless stories of the family growing up. He’d always held them in reverence to any other pack. 

They hadn’t brought a stroller this time, so Ox was carrying Calla in a sling, talking to her in hushed, excited whispers when they saw each different animal. Joe couldn’t seem to keep the smile off his face. It eased Robbie’s nerves a little. Marty was attached to Ox’s side today, clearly devoted to his cousin. Robbie noticed that when he was around her, Marty never liked to stray too far from the baby. He could see a beautiful friendship blooming between them as they grew up, and the thought made him ache strangely. 

He wanted to be there to see it. 

“I’m gonna ask you something, Robbie,” Joe said. “Before you came here, you lived in Maine for a while. You worked under Michelle Hughes.” 

Robbie stiffened. 

“Yes,” he said, thinking it wise to be honest. 

“When I appointed Michael Wexler to be my liaison between my pack here and the wolves in Maine, he told me she was being watched. I know she was seeking a position of power after my father died, and there have been rumors that she was working with Robert Livingstone before he died. Can you confirm any of that?”

Robbie got the feeling this was a test, and he was willing to do whatever it took to prove his loyalty to the Alpha. He nodded. 

“She sort of . . . took me under her wing after my mom died. So we were close. I’ll admit that. But she kept things from me, and I always got the feeling there were things she didn’t want me to know. After we got the news of Thomas’s death, she told me there was going to be a change,” he said, remembering the wild look in Michelle’s eyes when she’d gotten the phone call that Thomas Bennett was dead. Robbie had been wary of that look, nervous and antsy. 

Joe’s mouth pursed into a thin, displeased line. He nodded, urging Robbie to continue. 

“But whatever plans she was making - and I don’t know if she was working with anyone else by this time, since Robert was already dead - she never got the chance when you stepped up and appointed Michael as the figurehead,” Robbie explained. “Michelle sort of iced me out after that. I never got a reason or an explanation why.” And if Robbie was being honest with himself, it still hurt. Michelle had been kind to him after his mother died. She’d taken him in. Given him a home. And then she’d cast him aside, forgetting about him in her pursuit of power. When Michael told Robbie he didn’t have to stay in Maine anymore if he didn’t want to, Robbie only hesitated for a moment. He left in search of a new home, a new pack. 

His tether was weak, but it was there, and he used the tentative bonds he formed with the other wolves and packs he met on his travels to keep him steady. Robbie wasn’t in any danger of going Omega, but he thought he’d need another tether soon. Memories weren’t physical. They could only do so much. 

He looked at Marty and thought of Mark and Gordo, and then he blushed, cheeks warming, heart beating a little faster. Joe heard it, tilting his head to the side. Robbie was worried his heart rate would make Joe think he was lying, but Joe didn’t seem suspicious. He was contemplative, staring at Ox and Calla as he mulled over Robbie’s words. 

“Is there any chance she might try to come after us?” Joe asked, voice quiet. He didn’t take his eyes off his family. “Tell me honestly. From what you know of Michelle, and how she was the last time you saw her, do you think she’ll be a threat if we’re not careful? I need to know if there is any possibility she might try to come here.”

Robbie hesitated. “I really don’t know, Joe. She - maybe. Robert is dead, but there are still other witches, other people he had following him. Michelle might still be in contact with some of them. She could gather her own forces and try to seize power again.” He sighed. “Yes. It’s a possibility. I don’t know if it’ll be any time soon, but . . . someday.” 

He hadn’t thought much about Michelle Hughes since he left Maine, trying to focus on himself and his own life instead. Robbie was reminded of her in fleeting moments sometimes, but he knew now that any emotional attachment he’d had to her before was gone. She didn’t care about him, and maybe never had in the first place. 

The Bennetts cared about him. Mark and Gordo cared about him.

Joe let out a breath, his eyes tightening around the corners. They focused on his daughter where she was cradled in Ox’s arms, giggling at the elephants they were stopped in front of.

“If she comes here,” Joe said, his voice quieter, a little deadlier. It was the voice of an Alpha, and Robbie wanted to obey it. He had to listen to it. “If she comes to Green Creek, she will be a threat to my daughter and my husband, and she will die. I need you to be okay with that. And I need to know if you’ll stand with us.” Joe finally tore his eyes away from Calla to look at Robbie. “If you’ll fight with us.”

To protect Marty? To protect Mark and Gordo? Robbie didn’t hesitate. He nodded. 

“I will,” he said. 

Joe looked at him for a minute more before he smiled, features softening. He nodded back, and then the pack bonds settled between them, and Robbie could feel all of them, each and every string connecting him to each member of the pack. There was one reaching towards Joe. One reaching towards Ox and Calla. Towards Elizabeth and Carter and Kelly, though Robbie was still getting to know them. He could even feel the bonds to the humans, a little fainter than the rest. Rico and Chris and Tanner, Jessie. 

There was a thread connecting him to Marty. Two reaching towards Mark and Gordo, far away though they were. Those three were the strongest. Those threads shone the brightest. 

Joe reached up and squeezed Robbie’s shoulder. “I’m glad you came to Green Creek, Robbie. I hope you stay for a long time.”

“Me too,” Robbie said. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> robbie stays for dinner, and mark, gordo and marty finally get to see him shift.

It happened when Mark and Gordo were in the shower in their hotel suite, fooling around under the spray. They felt a shift in the pack bonds, a humming in their blood. Gordo sighed. Mark smiled. 

“Robbie,” Mark said. “Joe and Ox must’ve talked to him.”

“God dammit,” Gordo said. They hadn’t heard from the Alphas since yesterday, except for a few pictures sent of their trip to the aquarium. He knew they were at the zoo today; Robbie had sent a picture of Marty with his face painted to look like a wolf. Gordo was fairly certain they didn’t have wolves at the zoo, but the artist had done a pretty decent job anyway. Robbie’s periodic updates had been brief, but always positive. Gordo couldn’t believe there hadn’t been any incidents so far. He liked to think he and Mark had raised Marty pretty well, but he wasn’t a perfect kid. He threw tantrums just like every other toddler. He liked to throw things when he got mad. Gordo was amazed Robbie hadn’t called and said there was an issue with dinner - it was always dinner when Marty got testy, refusing to eat what his dads cooked for him. But there’d been nothing. Nothing except cheery messages like  _ Everything’s all good here! We’re having a blast together  _ and happy pictures of Marty giggling and smiling. 

When they felt the bonds shift, Mark pressed himself against Gordo’s back in the shower, kissing his neck. He relaxed contentedly. 

“Don’t freak out,” he said gently into Gordo’s ear, kissing water droplets from his skin. “We knew this would happen.”

“Did we?” Gordo said, just to be contradictory. 

“Yes,” Mark insisted. He pinched Gordo’s ass lightly, making Gordo arch away from him. “And you said you would try. That we’d see where this went.”

“I know.” Gordo rubbed his ass and tried to glare at Mark over his shoulder. “But I didn’t think it would be so soon. Two weeks isn’t . . . it’s nothing.” 

“When we were picking out a babysitter for Marty, we knew it would have to be someone with the potential to become pack,” Mark reminded him, reaching his hand down to rub the spot where he’d pinched Gordo, covering his husband’s hand with his own. He twined their fingers together and squeezed reassuringly. “If they had that potential, it wouldn’t matter how much time it took.” 

Gordo knew Mark was right, but he was stubborn to the end. He sighed and leaned his head back against Mark’s shoulder. Mark’s lips explored his neck, tongue chasing the water. 

“I promised I wouldn’t let you get hurt,” Mark whispered, his hand snaking around Gordo’s waist. “And I won’t. You just have to trust me, baby. And trust that everything will work out with Robbie. It’s meant to.”

Gordo’s response was stolen from him when Mark took hold of his wet cock and fisted him slowly, pressing him up against the shower wall. Gordo forgot what he was going to say. 

When they eventually came out of the shower, Gordo caught sight of Alphie, Marty’s stuffed wolf, sitting on the bedside table where Mark had propped him up. Mark had been sending pictures of the thing to Robbie so he could show Marty, captioned with “Alphie’s having fun!” and “Watching TV with us” and “Enjoying dinner,” carefully arranging the stuffed animal in different scenes every time. Gordo sat down on the bed, towel around his waist. He picked up Alphie and ran his fingers through the soft fur. 

Mark sat down beside him and kissed his damp shoulder. 

“There’s more room in our family,” he said softly. “Room in our hearts. Nothing will change. We’ll just be more than we were before.” 

As usual, Mark had hit the nail on the head. At the root of Gordo’s uncertainty with Robbie was . . . jealousy. Marty had gotten attached to him so quickly, and that had never happened with anyone else before. It jarred Gordo to see his son have such an affection for someone who was virtually a stranger. It scared him, a little. The jealousy was unfounded - Gordo knew Marty loved him. But to have Robbie show up and almost instantly find a place in their lives was rattling. 

Gordo’s life had been perfect. He thought it was complete with the pack and Mark and Marty, and his world felt off-balance as he realized maybe it hadn’t been. Maybe there had been something missing he just wasn’t aware of. 

Gordo sighed and put Alphie back on the little table next to the bed. Mark wrapped his arms around his husband and held him tight, and Gordo let the warmth seep into him. He focused on the pack bonds, on the new softly glowing thread that had formed in his heart, and he tugged on it experimentally. 

The person on the other end of the string tugged back. 

*

“Daddy! Papa!” 

Marty ran up the driveway as Mark and Gordo got out of the car. Gordo knelt down to catch his son, scooping him up in his arms with a wide grin. 

“Hey, kiddo.” He hugged Marty tightly and buried his nose in his mop of hair, unaware until that moment just how much he’d missed him. It had only been three days, but it was long enough. Gordo inhaled the familiar, comforting scent of his son and kissed Marty’s head before he let him down reluctantly. Marty raced to Mark, laughing as Mark swept him up and tossed him in the air. 

“We missed you, buddy!” Mark said, catching Marty out of the air in a bear hug. Marty hugged him back with just as much strength, his little arms wrapping around his father’s neck as his eyes squeezed shut. Gordo watched with a bittersweet pang in his chest as he got their bags out of the trunk. Marty had missed them as much as they’d missed him. It was clear from the wetness in his eyes. 

“Guess who else is back?” Gordo asked, holding Alphie up. Marty’s face lit up, and he made Mark put him down so he could hug his stuffed animal. 

“Yay! You took good care of him!”

“Of course we did,” Mark said with a smile. “It was nice of you to let him come with us. He’s good company.” 

“Come inside, come inside!” Marty said, trying to grab both of his dads’ hands at once while still keeping hold of Alphie. “Me and Robbie finished the big puzzle!  _ Finally. _ We need to start anodder one now!”

“You finished it?” Mark raised an impressed eyebrow, grinning. “Wow. That’s great.”

“It was no easy feat, either.” Robbie was standing on the porch, hands in his pockets. He was smiling, his eyes warm, and Gordo’s heart did a little dance at the sight of him. He tried to control himself so Robbie wouldn’t be able to tell, but Gordo supposed it was hopeless now with the new bonds between them. “That puzzle was a beast. But we finished it just before you guys got home. We were just about to reward ourselves with some cookies. Care to join us?”

“Cookies, huh?” Gordo asked. 

“Elizabeth brought them over,” Robbie said. “They’re peanut butter.” 

“Marty’s favorite,” Mark said. “And mine too.”

“I’m more partial to chocolate chip,” Gordo remarked flippantly. 

“I like double chocolate, which sucks. Chocolate is not very friendly to wolves,” Robbie grinned sheepishly. 

“Oh, I know. All of our birthday cakes in this house are vanilla or strawberry. Marty likes strawberry shortcake a lot.”

“Daddy, can I have some strawberries?” Marty asked. “Do we have any?”

“Let’s go see. I might need to go grocery shopping. I don’t even know if we have anything for dinner tonight,” Mark said, picking Marty up again as they went into the house. Gordo carried the bags in, and Robbie trailed behind him, shutting the door. It was good to be home. Gordo had thoroughly enjoyed the getaway with Mark, but he felt relieved being back in their house. It was always comforting to be in their own space, the home they’d made with each other. It was the place where Gordo felt the most loved and the most safe. 

“How was the trip?” Robbie asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table while Mark rooted around in the fridge for strawberries. Gordo sat across from him and couldn’t help noticing how comfortable Robbie looked in the house now. Like he was a part of it. 

“Fantastic,” Mark said. “We needed it. But we’re glad to be home.”

Gordo nodded. “It was fun. We did a little hiking, some exploring and shopping. The area was nice, and the hotel was beautiful.” 

“But next trip we take, it’ll be all of us.” Mark ruffled Marty’s hair as he found the strawberries. Marty grinned and jumped up and down. 

“I wanna go to the  _ beach  _ and swim in da ocean with  _ sharks!”  _

“The beach would be nice,” Gordo agreed. “There are good ones in California, I hear.” And California was close enough to the pack territory that it wouldn’t be a huge deal to go there for a few days, maybe a week. 

Robbie smiled. Gordo felt a pang through the bonds and noticed the distant longing in Robbie’s eyes. 

“Sounds like fun,” he said. 

Mark cut up some strawberries, and Marty stood on a footstool next to him, trying to reach up to the kitchen counter to watch his father’s work. Gordo knew Mark was waiting for him to take the lead. They’d talked about this in the car on the way back, how they would go about this . . . thing with Robbie. Mark had offered to be the one to broach the subject, but Gordo decided he needed to be brave. He needed to stop being afraid. 

“Robbie,” he said. “We wanted to ask you.” He cleared his throat, looking at the wall behind Robbie’s head. “Uh, we wanted to ask if you’d like to stay for dinner tonight.” 

Robbie’s eyes widened. He blushed, lips parting in a surprised O. He glanced at Mark, who had his back turned, and then back at Gordo, flustered. 

“I - I don’t want to intrude,” he stuttered. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Gordo said, though he didn’t sound like it. 

“We’d love to have you.” Mark jumped in to save him, turning around to face both of them with a smile. 

“Then I’d . . . I’d love to stay,” Robbie said. He blushed and tried to hide it, and Mark’s smile was a little brighter then. “Thank you.”

“Robbie’s stayin’ for dinner?” Marty asked, grinning. “Yaaay!” 

Robbie laughed when Marty jumped off his stool and ran to him. Marty jumped up onto his lap, and Robbie hugged him close. The sight of it made Gordo’s heart clench. 

“Perfect,” Mark said. “I’ll make steak.” He turned back to the counter to finish cutting up Marty’s strawberries, but not before Gordo caught the pink flush on his neck. 

*

“Are you sure I can’t help with anything?” 

“Nope. You just sit. It’ll be ready in a few minutes.” Mark waved Robbie away from the stove when he tried to peep over his shoulder. Gordo smirked at the expression on Robbie’s face. He seemed eager to help cook the meal, wanting to be useful. But Gordo and Mark hadn’t let him do anything other than get beers out of the fridge for them and pour a glass of milk for Marty. Marty had been keeping Robbie occupied while his dads made most of the meal, but he’d disappeared, likely to grab something from his room he wanted to show Robbie. 

“Thank you again for having me over,” Robbie said, the ever-present blush still painting his cheeks. 

“It’s our pleasure, Robbie.” Mark turned and smiled at him, eyes warm. “Really. We enjoy your company.” 

_ A little too much,  _ Gordo thought to himself. 

“I . . . enjoy yours, too.” Robbie looked awkwardly down at the table and took a sip of his beer to cover his blush again. “And I really love being Marty’s babysitter. I don’t know if another kid, another family would’ve been different, but you guys, and the pack, you’re all . . . special.” 

Gordo felt a pleasant warmth spread through him, and he turned so he couldn’t see Robbie’s face. Mark’s arm brushed his as Gordo chopped vegetables on the counter. He could feel Mark’s happiness through the bonds, and he knew Robbie could probably feel it now, too. There was no point in trying to hide his emotions anymore or ignore how he felt. The bonds would give it away in an instant. The one that had opened up between the three of them was unexpectedly strong. Gordo didn’t know whether to be surprised by that or not. 

“Speaking of the pack. How did it go with the Alphas this weekend?” Mark asked. 

“Sorry about that, by the way,” Gordo said. Robbie grinned. 

“Oh, it was fine. I was nervous at first, but they’re really great. And Calla is the sweetest.” He hesitated, face cautious. “Joe gave birth to her himself, right?”

“Yeah. It was fucking terrifying.” Gordo’s shoulders stiffened at the memory of Joe half-conscious, Ox looking like he might pass out too. Mark squeezed his shoulder in sympathy. He hadn’t been in the room with them, but he’d heard the screams. 

“I stayed with this pack once, a few months after I left Maine,” Robbie said. “Most of them were trans, but some of them had cisgender mates. I think a lot of them were turned wolves, shunned from their families, but a few of them were born. It surprised me that some of them were shunned, too. It didn’t occur to me that a pack, especially your family, one you’re born into, could just . . . turn you away like that.” His face turned sad and mournful. “I didn’t think it happened with people like us, especially since I think all wolves are pretty fluid with their sexuality. But I guess people everywhere have prejudices.

“This pack, though, they’d all found each other. They were mostly my age, but a couple were older, and there were even a few kids. The wolves in the pack had different opinions on kids - some of them transitioning to male hated the idea of carrying one biologically, and others really wanted it. It was interesting to see the dichotomy and the dynamics between them all. There was one guy there who was already pregnant by his mate. I think his name was Danny. I was there when the baby came, but it was too early, he wasn’t due yet. And . . . .” Robbie stopped and shook his head, and Mark and Gordo both felt the immense sadness pass over them through the bonds. “The baby was a stillborn.”

“I’m sorry,” Mark said softly, abandoning the meat on the stove for a second to come stand by Robbie and squeeze his shoulder. 

“There was nothing to be done for it,” Robbie said. “It was just . . . one of those things, you know. They happen. But seeing Joe and Calla reminded me of that pack, and I wondered if he knew about them. They lived kind of isolated, and they told me it was because they thought it was for the best. But I wonder if that’s true.”

“I’m sure if they came here, Ox and Joe would be happy to have them,” Gordo said, knowing it was true. It wouldn’t matter that another pack was in the Bennett territory. Gordo knew Joe would open his arms to them, and Ox would make room for them. “How big was the pack?”

“Not very. Six, seven wolves. Three kids.”

A pittance, compared to the thriving Bennett back of an age past, when Gordo and Mark had been young. But Gordo knew not every pack was as big as his. 

“Do you still keep in contact with them?” Mark asked, returning to his work at the stove. 

“I think I still have Ian’s number.” He paused, and then, quieter: “He’s Danny’s mate.” Another pang of sadness, followed by sympathy, went through the bonds. Gordo couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like for Ian and Danny to lose their child. 

“What about the Alpha?” Gordo asked. 

“Her name was Quinn,” Robbie said, the smile returning to his face. “She was a trans woman, really nice. She told me I could be a part of the pack.”

“Why didn’t you stay with them?” There was curiosity in Mark’s tone, and Gordo wanted to know, too. He remembered Robbie saying when they met that he’d managed to keep from going Omega so far because he had the memory of his mother as his tether, but he wondered what it had been like traveling on his own as a wolf without a pack. 

Robbie shrugged. “After they um, buried the baby, I felt like I was just an unwelcome presence there. I thought it would be better to let them grieve together. So I said my goodbyes and I left, but it was on good terms.”

“Talk to Joe about them,” Mark suggested. “Maybe it’d be good for them to meet.”

Gordo silently thought it would be good for Joe, too. Joe rarely talked about it, but Gordo had gotten the feeling over the years that he felt a little lonely, being one of the only trans people in Green Creek, and definitely the only trans werewolf. His family and Ox had never made him feel isolated and they’d always accepted him, but Gordo knew it wasn’t the same. It might be nice for Joe to have friends who were like him. 

“I will,” Robbie said with a smile. “I’d like to see them again.”

“What were some of the other packs you stayed with like?” Gordo asked. His curiosity about Robbie’s life before Green Creek suddenly abounded, and he wanted to know everything. Everything he could about him. 

Threads of conversation spun out as Mark and Gordo finished cooking dinner and they sat down to eat. Marty returned from his room with his collection of cool rocks he’d found in the woods - Mark smiled at Gordo when their son brought it out; Marty usually kept his rocks secret. Robbie gave the appropriate ooohs and aaahs over them, making Marty grin cheerily. 

Since Marty knew about the wolves, they could talk about anything while they ate, and they got to know Robbie better than they ever had over the meal. Marty asked the questions any child would ask - what was his favorite color? What did he like to eat? Did he listen to music? What TV show did he like best? But Gordo found himself hanging onto every answer Robbie gave, hoarding the information like precious gems.. 

His favorite color was red. His favorite food besides sweets and dessert was anything Italian, but especially garlic bread and pasta. He liked to listen to instrumental music, movie scores and soundtracks, and he liked old jazz and music from the 1940’s and 50’s because his mother had always listened to it. His favorite television show was something called  _ Outlander,  _ and Gordo silently made a note to himself to look that up and watch it. It was also apparently a book series of eight very long books, which Robbie had once taken several months to read. He liked reading, and he loved classic poetry. Sometimes he did a bit of writing; he kept a journal, but was too shy to show anyone. He admitted to being a hopeless romantic, which was why he liked  _ Outlander,  _ a show about an epic romance. 

Mark asked questions about Robbie’s mother, Beatrice. Elizabeth had known her, but Mark only vaguely remembered her, if at all, and he wanted to know what she’d been like, if it wasn’t too difficult for Robbie to talk about. It wasn’t. He told them stories from his childhood, the best stories he remembered about his mother. His face got soft when he talked about her, and Gordo thought he could watch him while Robbie wasn’t looking for the rest of his life. 

Marty begged for dessert after dinner, and they finished off the cookies Elizabeth made. Then, without preamble, Marty asked Robbie, “You’re a woof like Daddy?”

Gordo had to admit to himself that he’d expected it at some point; they weren’t shy about talking about the wolves around their son, and they hadn’t tried to keep it a secret that Robbie was one. They’d just never said it to Marty outright. But he was a smart kid. 

“Yes,” Robbie said, smiling. Marty grinned, shoving a cookie in his mouth. 

“Can I see?”

Robbie looked at Mark, who shrugged in good nature. Gordo hesitated, but only for a second until Mark put his hand on his knee under the table. 

“Sure,” Gordo said, curious himself. He realized that no one in the pack had seen Robbie shift yet. He was part of them, but he hadn’t run with them yet, hadn’t hunted with them or shifted on a full moon. Gordo thought the time was coming soon. Ox and Joe would invite him to do it, and then Robbie’s presence here would be cemented. Maybe permanently. 

He cleared the dishes away from the table, his stomach suddenly in knots. God. He didn’t know why his feelings were so complicated. He’d talked it over with Mark already and he thought he was ready to accept them, at least not to deny them anymore, but they kept coming back up to assault him. 

“We can go outside,” Mark said, coming around the table to scoop Marty up from his chair. “It’s nice out tonight.” It had gotten dark out while they were eating, and the stars were glittering brightly in the sky, the air balmy and cool. Crickets chirped, and the forest sang around them. Summer in Green Creek had a certain atmosphere to it that always made Gordo feel nostalgic. It reminded him of summers spent with the shop boys growing up, getting into trouble with Rico, Chris, and Tanner. Moments he could escape from his father and forget about anything else but his friends. 

It reminded him of other summers, too, when the Bennett pack of that time would have their Sunday dinners outside, long picnic tables erected in the yard to accommodate everyone. Mark shyly following Gordo around, and Gordo pretending not to notice the way he looked at him. 

Summers taking Ox out for ice cream, letting him hang around in the garage and learn the tricks of the trade. Summers just sitting outside, enjoying the air. Summer always felt like happiness, and Gordo could feel it as he stepped outside, following Mark and Robbie. 

This summer also felt like one of change. But good ones.. 

Their backyard was small, but there was a tiny patio with lights strung up around it for when they wanted to entertain people, and Mark switched those on so they could see better. He set Marty down on one of the cushioned patio chairs, and Marty stood up on the seat and looked over the back of it eagerly. His eyes were expectant on Robbie, waiting for him to shift. Gordo stood beside him to make sure he didn’t fall off the chair, keeping a hand on his head. 

“Hi Papa,” Marty said. 

“Hey, kiddo.”

“This the first time we gonna see Robbie’s woof, yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

“I’m excited!” 

Gordo smiled. “Me too, buddy.” 

“I’ll shift with you, Robbie,” Mark said as they stood in the dim twilight. “If that’s alright.”

“Of course,” Robbie said. Gordo could see his blush in the soft lights. “Uh, I guess I’ll go first, then.” He smiled nervously at them both, and then grinned at Marty and gave him a thumbs-up. Marty clapped his hands and giggled. 

Robbie hesitated for a minute, looking mildly uncomfortable, and Gordo realized that he’d have to take his clothes off to shift. He felt his own cheeks get hot. 

“I can go first,” Mark offered, stepping forward. He put a hand on Robbie’s shoulder and squeezed it, and Gordo heard the small breath Robbie let out at the touch. He stepped back, arms around himself. 

“You can go around the side of the house if you want to,” Gordo said, clearing his throat because his voice came out rough. Robbie looked questioningly at Marty, eyebrows raised. Gordo shrugged. “He’s seen Mark do it a bunch of times, and the rest of the pack.”

“Daddy says it’s okay to be naked sometimes,” Marty said, making Mark laugh. “But sometimes when I run around with no clothes on they chase me and tell me to wear pants. No pants!” Gordo grabbed him and stopped him before he could pull his pants down and moon them all, and Mark’s laughter doubled. Robbie grinned, looking more relaxed. 

His grin stuttered when Mark lifted his shirt over his head, exposing a beautifully toned chest and abs. Gordo realized Mark still had hickeys on his neck and around his nipples from their vacation, but he pretended to ignore it. 

Mark didn’t turn his back as he disrobed, unzipping his jeans and pulling them down. Next to Gordo, Robbie made a small choking sound and looked up at the sky. Mark threw a mischievous grin in his husband’s direction, and Gordo gave him a look back that said he was going to answer for this later. 

Just before Mark shifted, Gordo saw Robbie’s gaze flick down, just once, and then back up. 

Mark’s shift was quick and easy, fluid as smoke. A brown wolf grinned at them and then barked for Marty’s entertainment. Marty’s face was alight with fascination, as it always was when he was around one of the pack in wolf form. He hadn’t grown tired of it yet, and Gordo doubted he would until he was at an age where his natural childlike enchantment with everything new and different would start to fade. 

Secretly, he hoped it never went away. He hoped Marty would still look the same upon the wolves and Gordo’s magic when he was a teenager as he did now. 

Thinking of Marty as a teenager gave him the beginnings of a crisis, so Gordo turned his attention to Robbie instead. His eyes were wide on Mark’s wolf, and his lips were parted. He looked beautiful. 

He swallowed and stepped forward, hands on the hem of his shirt. Mark sat on the grass to wait for him. Robbie walked past Mark, and kept his back turned to Gordo and Marty as he stripped quickly. He did it so fast that Gordo barely had time to appreciate the exposed skin - the supple muscles in his freckled back, the tight curve of his buttocks - before Robbie shifted. 

He was a gray wolf, a little smaller than Mark. His ears flicked when he turned around and approached Mark slowly, nose down. Mark made himself acquainted, sniffing curiously at Robbie’s fur, getting used to the scent of the new wolf. They circled each other for a minute or two before Mark licked Robbie’s ear. Robbie’s tongue lolled out, and he licked Mark back. He yipped happily, and they started pawing each other, nipping and biting playfully. 

“Robbie’s a nice woof, Papa,” Marty said. “I wanna pet him! Can I?”

“Okay.” Gordo picked Marty up from the chair, carrying him in his arms out into the yard. “Let’s be careful, though. Gentle.”

He knelt down in the grass, Marty on his leg. Mark came forward and booped Marty’s stomach with his nose, a wolf’s version of a raspberry, and Marty laughed and put his arms around the brown wolf’s head without fear. 

_ Packpackpack,  _ Gordo felt it echo through the bonds.  _ Familysonprotectlove.  _

The tattoos on Gordo’s arms began to move in response to the current running under his skin, and when he glowed, Marty gasped and smiled happily. He touched Gordo’s tattoos with a gentle finger. 

“Pretty, Papa,” he said quietly. Gordo’s throat closed up with emotion. He kissed Marty’s forehead, and Mark leaned his head against Gordo’s shoulder and made a low, pleasant sound. 

_ Lovelovelove,  _ Gordo heard. 

He lifted his head and looked at Robbie’s wolf over Mark’s shoulder. The gray wolf was hanging back, unsure of his place. Gordo shifted Marty on his lap and nodded to Robbie. 

“It’s okay,” he said. He took Marty’s hand and held it out. Marty kept his fingers splayed flat, waiting for Robbie to move forward. He smiled. 

Mark rumbled, and Robbie finally moved, paws sinking into the earth as he walked slowly. He kept his snout down, tail cautiously lowered. He pressed his snout against Marty’s hand and closed his eyes. Marty’s fingers curled in the gray fur, and Gordo found himself raising his own hand to feel it too. 

“You’re soft, Robbie,” Marty said. He patted him gently. “Good woof.”

“He is soft,” Gordo said. The wolf’s eyes glinted at him, and it was almost like he was smiling. Mark gave a soft bark and licked Gordo. Gordo made a face at him. “Gross. You know I hate it when you do that.”

Mark curled up beside his family, his fur warm against Gordo’s skin. Still moving slowly, Robbie came and lay down on Gordo’s other side. Fireflies started to wink in the twilight, and Marty gasped, running through the yard to catch them. “Look, Papa! Twinkly bugs!”

Gordo smiled, oohing and aahing appropriately when Marty returned to him with a handful of fireflies. 

“They glow like you, Papa,” Marty said, watching intently as one of the fireflies flew up and alighted in Gordo’s hair. 

“They do,” Gordo said. He’d always liked fireflies. 

Marty ran around, jumping up in the air with his hand outstretched until he got tired and returned to his father and the two wolves watching him contentedly. Robbie had put his head on Gordo’s knee, and Gordo found himself absentmindedly stroking his fur, not realizing what he was doing. Mark’s tail was curled around Gordo’s back, reaching towards Robbie on his other side. 

“You tired?” Gordo asked when Marty yawned, sitting back down in his lap. He put his arms around his son and kissed the top of his head. 

“No,” Marty lied. Mark huffed through his nose, and Robbie licked Marty’s hand. 

“Your bedtime is soon,” Gordo reminded him. 

“I know, Papa, but I just wanna stay out here. It’s pretty outside.”

“Yeah,” Gordo said, feeling a sense of peace from the sight of the treeline in their backyard. It was a beautiful place. A good place to raise a family. “It sure is.” 

“Papa?” Marty asked after a short stint of silence. Gordo had been rubbing his back, trying to coax him to sleep, and it was almost working, but Marty blinked awake again, looking up at his father. 

“What, kiddo?”

Marty patted the gray wolf’s head, and Robbie closed his eyes. “Can Robbie stay here? Forever?”

Gordo’s chest pinched, and he took in a breath. His words were a little choked when they left him. “Forever is a really long time, bud.”

“I know, Papa, but I love Robbie.” Marty sniffled, and he got the familiar look on his face that said he was going to cry. Gordo held him close, refusing to cry himself. 

“Shh, shh, Marty. You love him, huh?” Gordo didn’t look at the gray wolf beside him, who had gone eerily still. 

“Yeah, Papa. He’s my friend. I want him to be my friend forever,” Marty said. “Until I  _ die  _ when I’m eleventy-seven years old.”

Gordo laughed, squeezing Marty a little tighter. Mark curled closer to them both, and Gordo could feel his heartbeat from where he pressed against him. 

“So can he stay?” Marty asked, insistent and pleading with big puppy-dog eyes. “Forever? Please, Papa?”

God dammit. 

“Of course,” Gordo said. “Of course he can stay.” 

Marty didn’t jump for joy, didn’t shout happily or yell out his excitement. There was only a peaceful, satisfied smile on his face at Gordo’s answer. He sighed and sat back down on his father’s lap, leaning his head into Robbie’s soft ruff. He fell asleep there, softly snoring in minutes. 

Gordo’s eyes stung, and the back of his throat itched with emotion. He cleared it and nudged Mark, who grumbled at him before he stood on all four paws to shift back. Robbie stayed as he was, not wanting to wake Marty. And maybe for other reasons, too, Gordo thought. 

Mark put only his pants back on, gathering the rest of his clothes under his arm. He didn’t speak, just yet. Gordo lifted Marty into his arms, head falling onto his shoulder. He didn’t wake; he was a heavy sleeper, dead to the world for anything. Gordo almost missed the days when Marty was a newborn, and he and Mark would take turns getting up in the middle of the night to calm the crying. 

Who was he kidding? He did miss those days. Marty was so big now, and growing every day. Soon, he wouldn’t even be a toddler anymore. 

Christ. Did Gordo want another baby?

_ What a fucking time to have this revelation,  _ he thought bitterly to himself.  _ Perfect.  _ He could think about it later. Or he could just go spend some time with Calla. That would satisfy his sudden desire for another kid. 

Yes, he decided. He’d go see his goddaughter tomorrow. He missed her, anyway. He hadn’t seen her since before he and Mark left on their trip. Maybe he’d give the Alphas the day off and take her off their hands for a while. Marty loved play-dates with her, even though she couldn’t do much more than lay on the ground or sit in her little walker and throw things. 

“What are you thinking about?” Mark asked, hand rubbing down Gordo’s back. Gordo grumbled to himself. He could never get anything past Mark. 

“Nothing,” he lied, smiling and kissing him to distract him. Mark narrowed his eyes at him, but he smiled and kissed him again anyway. 

Gordo turned his head to see Robbie still standing there in their yard, gray wolf watching them with deep eyes. 

“You coming?” he asked, and Robbie began to shift. Mark and Gordo both turned away politely, but Gordo could see the desire to look back in Mark’s eyes, and he was sure Mark could see the same thing in his. 

Gordo wondered how much longer it would be until the thing that was building between them reached its peak. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (totally not projecting when i made outlander robbie's favorite tv show)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uncle gordo spends some time with baby calla. robbie thinks about a more permanent position in green creek.

“Whoa there, munchkin.” Gordo reached down to scoop up the baby that was crawling rapidly across the floor, making breathless giggly noises as she headed with determination towards the fireplace. The fire wasn’t lit, but Calla’s new favorite thing was trying to get into places her fathers would rather she not be in. Calla squealed when Gordo picked her up, and Gordo grinned, bouncing her in his arms. 

Ox and Joe were spending the night alone together, having relinquished care of their daughter to her godfather. Ox had looked at Gordo knowingly when he’d asked if they needed a babysitter - they hadn’t, really, but when Gordo asked, Joe made up an excuse. It had been difficult to be alone together since the baby was born, he’d admitted, and it would be nice not to have to worry for a while. 

Mark was out with Elizabeth, shopping. Marty was with his uncles, spending the day at Carter and Kelly’s store, and Gordo assumed Robbie was in his apartment. He wondered what it looked like. They hadn’t seen the place he was renting yet, and Marty hadn’t been there. Gordo was curious. He wondered if it would be inappropriate to ask if they could visit. 

Calla made a spitting noise and pulled Gordo’s hair. He gently disentangled her fists and then pretended to eat her hand, making chomping noises. Calla squealed with delight again and giggled, eyes bright as she gave her godfather a gummy smile. She was starting to teeth now, but her mouth was still mostly pink. 

“What should we do tonight, girlie?” Gordo asked her, shifting her weight in his arms. Holding her gave him a sense of profound happiness and comfort. 

“Ba!” Calla shouted. “Ba ba ba!”

“Oh yeah? Interesting. How about some games? You wanna play with toys?”

“Do!”

“Okay. Let’s see what your cousin’s got in his room.” He took her into Marty’s room, where he let her crawl around and pull toys out as she pleased. Marty wouldn’t mind; he loved Calla, and he always made it a point to share with her. The one thing Gordo was careful of was not to let Calla disturb the puzzle currently in mid-assembly on Marty’s floor.

She found a set of old blocks she liked, and promptly began to bang them together loudly. Gordo laughed and watched her, laying down on the floor to be at her level. 

At six months, she was looking more and more like Ox. She had his hair, dark and shiny, but her eyes were Joe’s, blue as could be. Her skin tone was on the darker side, and she had facial features that reminded Gordo so much of Maggie. He felt a pang of loss and grief for his old friend, and reached out to touch Calla’s tiny foot gently. 

“She would’ve loved you,” he said. “She would’ve been so proud. So would Thomas.”

Gordo closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself think of Thomas. He tried not to make it a habit, but sometimes thoughts of the loved ones he’d lost came upon him unbidden, and he had to take a moment to remember. Sometimes Mark would have quieter days, and Gordo knew he was thinking of his brother. The same always happened with the others. They all thought of Thomas and Maggie all the time; they’d never be forgotten. It was easier now, with Marty and Calla. The pack was growing, and the presence of the old Alpha and Ox’s mother was stronger with the little ones.

Mark had told Marty bedtime stories about Thomas more than once. When Calla was old enough to understand, Gordo knew Ox would make sure she knew who her grandmother had been. 

“Grandpa and your grandma would’ve spoiled you,” Gordo said to Calla, who was going “goo goo goo” as she banged a block on the floor. Gordo reached out and tried to help her build a tower, but she batted his hand. 

“Da!” she shouted. Gordo held his hands up in surrender. 

“Okay, okay. I won’t help. You’re independent, aren’t you?”

“Ba do,” she said. Gordo grinned. He wondered when she would start walking. He thought it was getting close - she could crawl fast, and she could stand on her own if she was holding onto something. She could pull herself up easily, and jiggle on her legs if Ox or Joe were holding her hands. She had a little bouncy walker she liked to play in - they sat her down in the tiny carrier, and she ran all over the place, the wheels helping her along. Gordo thought it definitely wouldn’t be long until she was taking her first steps. Definitely not long before she was saying real words, either. 

Gordo got emotional when he remembered Marty’s first steps, his first words. The proud, shining look on Mark’s face when Marty had walked to him for the first time. The way Mark laughed with delight when Marty said “Dada!” He couldn’t wait to see the look on Ox’s face when it happened with Calla.

So yeah, maybe he wanted another kid. That didn’t mean he was going to do anything about it. He could keep it secret for as long as it took his husband to force it out of him. And Gordo could be stubborn as a mule when he wanted to be. 

When Mark picked up Marty from his uncles’ store and brought him home, they found Gordo asleep on his back on the floor in Marty’s room, the baby sleeping on his chest. Gordo knew because Mark took a picture of it, the bastard. He sent it to the pack group chat with the text “ _ Having fun with Old Uncle Gordo _ .” Gordo sent a middle finger emoji to the chat when he discovered it. 

“I couldn’t resist,” Mark said with a shameless grin when Gordo griped at him about it. “You and Marty used to sleep like that all the time. When he was crying and it was your turn to put him back to sleep, I’d come in and find you with Marty asleep on your chest.” 

“Yeah, I remember.” Gordo tried not to smile, but his efforts were foiled when Mark kissed him. 

*

Robbie got a call he wasn’t expecting on his third month in Green Creek. 

He didn’t recognize the number at first, and let it go to voicemail. When he listened to it, he was surprised to hear one of the human members of the Bennett pack. 

He’d met Jessie only a few times, when he’d been invited to pack dinners, and he’d spoken to her a couple of those times, but it had never been a substantial conversation. Robbie was more or less settled into his role with Mark and Gordo and the rest of the pack, and he liked the humans - Chris, Rico, Tanner and Rico’s girlfriend Bambi were funny, and he wanted to get to know them more. Jessie was kind, but there was something fierce behind her eyes that reminded Robbie inexplicably of his mother. 

They were friendly with each other, but not on the level where Robbie would expect a casual phone call from her. The voicemail she left, though, had him calling her back with fervent hope. 

“Hey Jessie, this is Robbie. I got your message. Do you think we could meet up to talk more about it? At the diner, maybe. Call me back and we can work it out. Thanks, talk to you soon.” He hung up, feeling jittery and nervous, and tried not to wait by the phone all day to hear back from her. Of course she wouldn’t call back right away - it was the middle of the day, and she was at work. He knew she was a teacher at the school. It was summer, but she had volunteered to teach some of the summer courses for the kids, and she was also working extra hours as a tutor. 

Since Robbie’s main job at the moment was babysitting for Marty, he didn’t have much to do during the day when Mark and Gordo didn’t need him. He had enough money saved up to live comfortably in the apartment he was renting for a few months, but he’d been wondering about a more permanent position in Green Creek. 

Although he’d sort of become more than Marty’s babysitter in the last couple of weeks; now he was more like his nanny. With Gordo working at the garage, Mark had mostly been a stay-at-home dad after they had Marty. But with Robbie here to help them out, Mark had decided to go back to work full-time. Carter and Kelly had their music store, so that left Mark to help Joe out with the business Thomas had done before he died. Besides that, Mark was pursuing a career in architecture and contracting. He’d just started a job as a general contractor at the only building company in Green Creek. 

Robbie could easily see him in the job - he’d learned after only a few days of knowing him that Mark liked to build things. He’d told Robbie proudly that he’d built the bookshelf in their house, built the playhouse for Marty in the backyard, and was planning on building a treehouse for the kids behind the Bennett house. It was obvious that he took pride in his work, and Robbie was happy for him that he’d decided to get a job in the field. Also touched that he and Gordo trusted him enough to give him more responsibility for Marty. 

Since it was summer and there was no school, Robbie’s job now was to watch over Marty during the day. He kept him fed and entertained, and drove him to and from various appointments and places. Spending more time with Marty just made him love the kid more, and Robbie never wanted it to end. 

He thought Marty might be his new tether.

He wanted to have his own kid one day, maybe two, and Marty was good practice. Robbie had always thought he’d be a good dad.

He bit his lip, wondering what Mark and Gordo would think of his tentative plans. He glanced at his phone again, psychically willing it to ring. Around four in the afternoon, it did. He picked it up on the first ring and then winced, hoping he didn’t come off as too eager. 

“Hey, Jessie!”

“Hi Robbie! I’m glad you got back to me. I listened to your message and I’d love to meet up. The diner works fine. Can you do tonight?”

“Yeah, sure.” Robbie was already getting up, looking for his shoes. “What time?”

“About an hour? I’ll meet you there.”

“Perfect. Thanks, Jessie.”

“No problem. See you soon!” She hung up, and Robbie let out a breath, smile on his face. This was good. The first voicemail she’d left him hadn’t said much, and Robbie was itching to find out more. She’d sounded excited about it in the message. 

He got to the diner early by thirty minutes, but he didn’t mind waiting. He ordered a coffee and a slice of pie and opened up the reading app on his phone to pick up where he’d left off in the book he was currently on. He was absorbed by the time Jessie got there, sliding into the booth across from him. 

“Hey!” she said, smiling brightly as she put her purse down beside her. Robbie smiled back at her, putting his phone down. 

“Hi, Jessie,” he said. “What did you want to talk about? You said in your message you had some good news. . . .”

Her face lit up, grinning excitedly. “Yes! So, it might be a little sudden, but we just had a job open up at the school. I think you’d be a perfect fit for the position. I wanted to tell you in person, since you’re still settling in here with all of us and I didn’t know how you’d feel about it, but I think it’d be a great opportunity for you, if you wanted to put down roots in Green Creek.”

Robbie blinked, taken aback. 

“A job?” he repeated. “At the school?”

Jessie nodded, her enthusiasm clear. “The school is K through 12, since it’s the only one in Green Creek, and the position would be for a kindergarten teacher. We normally have two, but one of them just went on maternity leave, and we need a long-term replacement.” 

“Wow,” Robbie said, unsure what to say. “A kindergarten teacher. Wow. That’s . . . are there any other candidates?”

Jessie shrugged, waving a hand in the air. “You’d be the first, if you chose to interview with Principal Sharpe. And I’d put in a good word for you. Of course, you have to say we aren’t friends - we just know each other because you babysit my nephew. Otherwise it would be biased and Principal Sharpe might get suspicious.” She winked. “But I think you’d be an amazing fit for the job, Robbie. I’ve seen the way you are around Marty and Calla, and I know you love kids.”

“I do,” he said, feeling a little breathless. When he’d thought about what he wanted to do with his life, career-wise, teaching had always seemed like the path he’d take. Something that let him work with kids, at least. He’d considered the notion of guidance counseling or becoming a pediatrician, maybe a day-care manager, but a school environment had always called to him. And now here the opportunity was to explore that, being dropped in his lap. If he liked it, he’d know it was what he wanted to do for good, and he could pursue it with certainty. And if he stayed in Green Creek . . . .

On impulse, he said, “I’ll do the interview.”

“Great!” Jessie beamed, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. “You would probably start immediately, since school starts again in a few weeks.”

“Can you do me a favor, though?”

“Of course. What do you need?” Jessie’s brows came together, and Robbie bit his lip. He sighed. 

“If I get the job, maybe just . . . don’t tell Mark and Gordo yet.”

“Oh,” Jessie said, eyes widening a little. Then she smiled and said, “Oh,” more softly. “Okay. I won’t tell them. I’ll leave that up to you.” 

“Thanks,” Robbie said, avoiding her gaze. He knew he would have to tell them eventually, but he was afraid of what their reactions might be. He worried about what they would think if he told them he wanted to stay in Green Creek permanently. 

He had felt the bonds between them opening up, stretching and strengthening, but he’d been too afraid to put words to it. He’d never felt anything like it before, and he didn’t want to do anything to ruin it. His place now in Green Creek, with the Bennetts, was his most valued thing. 

He didn’t know what he would do if he actually got the job at the school. Would he continue renting the place he was staying in now? Or would he find something more permanent? 

“If you get the job, I think it’ll be amazing,” Jessie said. “I’d be excited to work with you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I need more friends in this town.” 

Robbie laughed. He liked Jessie, and he enjoyed spending time with her. He’d like to get to know her better outside of the pack. Working with her might even be fun. 

They talked for another half an hour at the diner before they went their separate ways. When he got back to his apartment, Robbie opened up his computer and went over his resume to make sure it was up to date. He printed out a copy and picked out a nice outfit to wear for his interview. He thought a full suit might be overdoing it, so he went with pressed khakis, a button-down shirt, a tie, and a blazer. The interview wasn’t for a few days, but it was Robbie’s first in a long time. Technically, he supposed his first meeting with Mark and Gordo had been an informal interview, but this would be his first in a professional setting since before he’d left Maine. He hoped he was good enough to impress. 

That night, Mark called him to confirm that Robbie would be coming over for the barbecue he and Gordo were hosting tomorrow. Robbie said he would, and he didn’t think he imagined the enthusiasm in Mark’s voice, or the softness in his tone. He blushed and was glad Mark couldn’t see. 

He hoped they might invite him to dinner again, just the three of them and Marty. Maybe then Robbie could tell them about his decision. It would be easier if they were alone, but scarier too. Robbie didn’t know what their reactions would be, and he didn’t know what exactly he would be asking if he told them he was staying in Green Creek. He didn’t have to ask anything - he knew there didn’t have to be anything attached to it, and he could just stay in Green Creek if he wanted to regardless of their reactions - but it felt important that Mark and Gordo would be happy if he stayed. 

He knew what was happening between them. What was there, lingering beneath the surface. What none of them had spoken aloud. Robbie didn’t want to say it aloud. It was too good to be true. It was everything his mother always told him it would be like, everything he’d witnessed between packs while traveling, everything he’d desperately wanted in his heart of hearts for a long, long time now, but Robbie couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to wake up from the dream. 

Over the last couple weeks, when he was alone, he’d caught himself slipping into daydreams, imagining what it would be like to be a part of them. He wondered how they would react when they found out he’d never been with anyone else before. He thought about how they would treat him. Somehow he knew they would be gentle, caring. He’d gotten off a few times in the last month to the thought of being in bed with them, and then felt too embarrassed to look them in the eyes the next time he was watching Marty. 

If Robbie let himself think about it for too long, he wouldn’t sleep tonight, so he tried to clear his head by watching his favorite show. He fell asleep with the TV on. He missed two texts on his phone; one from Mark, and one from Gordo. 

_ See you tomorrow,  _ from Gordo. Short and simple. 

_ Glad you can make it to the cookout,  _ from Mark.  _ See you then.  _

In the morning, Robbie saw them and freaked out for twenty minutes trying to analyze them. 

He didn’t know how he was supposed to make it through the barbecue. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mark and gordo host a barbecue and finally make a decision about robbie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> little bit of a shorter one but i had to give the smut its own chapter because it's so long lmao

The yard smelled like grill smoke and sizzling meat, and laughter filled the air. Gordo stood with Ox by the grill, helping to cook the burgers. Mark had been in charge of the food until Ox relieved him so he could go push Marty on the swingset. Marty was very obviously spoiled, because he had a swingset with a slide and monkey bars in addition to the one-of-a-kind playhouse Mark had built for him,  _ and  _ Mark had mentioned he was thinking about getting a trampoline. Mark pushed Marty in the kid’s swing while Joe gently pushed Calla in the baby swing next to him. 

“She’s growing so fast,” Gordo said, nodding towards Ox’s daughter. Ox grinned proudly. 

“Right? It’s crazy. She’s gained like, two inches in a month. Her hair’s so much longer, too. Joe says we should give her her first haircut soon, but I don’t want to.” Calla’s dark hair was currently in tiny pigtails on top of her head, sticking out from the sides. They were tied with green ribbons and they matched the green frock she wore. The front of it looked like a frog. She was nine months old now, and Gordo didn’t know how it was possible, but she got cuter every day. 

“Don’t cut it,” he advised. “Those pigtails, man. It would be a waste.”

“That’s what I said!” Ox grinned at him, and Gordo chuckled and took a sip of his beer. Ox watched him watching the kids and their husbands for a moment before he got a look on his face that Gordo didn’t like. “You want another one, don’t you? You want a girl.”

“Shut up,” Gordo said, gritting his teeth and tearing his eyes away from the scene at the swingset. 

“Have you told Mark?”

“No, and I’m not going to.”

“Why not?”

“I will when you tell Joe you want another one, too.” Gordo knew he had him there, but he felt bad when a stricken look passed over Ox’s face. 

“I can’t,” he said quietly. “Calla’s not even a year old yet, and Joe . . . I don’t know if he wants another one.”

“You can adopt, you know.”

“It’s not that,” Ox said, shaking his head. He stared down at the grill while he flipped the burgers around with a spatula. “It’s . . . Calla’s the Alpha. We were lucky with that, even if we didn’t plan for her. I think Joe thinks there’s no point to having any more, even if we decided to adopt or use surrogacy.” 

“Really?” Gordo was a little surprised Joe would think that way, being the youngest of three. He would’ve thought Joe would’ve wanted Calla to have brothers like he did. But then again, he knew what it was like for Kelly and Carter to grow up knowing they weren’t the Alphas, knowing that their younger brother was. Maybe Joe didn’t want that for any of Calla’s potential siblings. He understood it, from an emotional standpoint. 

“I don’t know,” Ox said, shrugging. “I haven’t talked to him about it. It’s still too soon.”

“Do you really think he would deny you anything?” Gordo asked softly. “If you asked him for the world, he’d give it to you, Ox.”

“I know.” Ox sighed. “That’s why I can’t. I need to know he wants it, too.” He glanced over at the swingset, where Robbie had joined the little group. “But I know Mark wants another one. You have nothing to lose by bringing it up.”

Gordo downed the rest of his beer and walked away, hearing Ox’s laughter behind him. He wandered over to Elizabeth, who was making conversation with Bambi, Rico’s girlfriend. She had become pack pretty quickly and was now a fixation at all of the Sunday dinners, when she could make it. She was too good for Rico, and Rico knew it, which was why he treasured her and treated her like a queen. They were good together. 

“Hi, Gordo,” Elizabeth said warmly, pulling him in for a kiss on the cheek. 

He hugged her and then smiled at Bambi. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything important. Just needed to escape Ox.”

“Was he bothering you about the fact that you want to have another baby?” Elizabeth asked, laughing at the look on Gordo’s face. “You can’t hide these things from me, Gordo. Not after all these years. And Mark so clearly wants it too.”

“I will leave you guys too if you talk about this,” Gordo threatened. Bambi grinned. 

“How about this for a change of subject, then: me and Rico are thinking of trying for one.”

“You don’t want to get married first?” Gordo asked. Not that it mattered to him, but curiosity made him pose the question. Bambi shrugged. 

“Eh. Maybe later. Right now I’ve just got baby fever from being around you guys so much. It’s messing with my hormones. And Rico loves the little ones, plus he’s surprisingly good with them. He’d make a good dad.” She looked over at him where he was laughing with Chris and Tanner. 

“He would,” Gordo agreed. 

“It’s just a thought for now,” Bambi said, waving her hand in the air. “We’re not gonna be careful, and if it happens, it happens.” She smiled. “Leaving it up to chance.”

Gordo wondered who would be the next ones in the pack to settle down after Bambi and Rico. Maybe Jessie and her mysterious girlfriend, whom any of them had yet to meet. Or maybe Kelly . . . lately, Gordo had noticed Tanner looking at Kelly a little differently. He had no idea when it had started, or if anyone else noticed, but he hadn’t spoken to Tanner about it. Yet. He wanted to wait and feel it out for a bit, see if it was actually something, before he did anything about it. So far, Gordo didn’t think Kelly had noticed Tanner back. Maybe he was oblivious, or maybe he was just subtle about it. 

But Kelly couldn’t hide things from Carter, so if he was interested in Tanner, Carter would’ve noticed. 

Gordo let it go for now, but he was going to keep an eye on the two of them. 

“Oh, look who’s here!” Elizabeth said brightly, smiling at someone over Gordo’s shoulder. An awareness settled over him like a cloak, and he turned to see Robbie standing in the yard, holding a plastic bag. 

“Hi,” Robbie said, smiling at Gordo before he blushed and looked away. He held out the plastic bag. “I, uh, brought some corn? Corn on the cob. I didn’t know if I was supposed to bring anything, but - ”

“It’s great,” Gordo said, taking the bag from him. “Thanks, Robbie. We needed some corn.”

“Oh, good.” He blushed again, and Gordo let his eyes rake over him. He looked good. He was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved button down patterned with leaves. He had nice legs. Gordo cleared his throat and gestured to the swingset with his hand. 

“Marty’s over there, if you want to say hi,” he said. “He’ll be happy to see you.”

Elizabeth gave him a knowing look as they moved towards the swingset, and Gordo ignored her and took a long sip of his beer. It was a nice day out, with a cool breeze, but he was hot all of a sudden. 

“Hey!” Mark said when he looked up and spotted Robbie. He pulled him in for a hug, which made Robbie’s eyes widen, and he was a little slow to hug him back. Mark didn’t seem to mind. “We’re really glad you could make it.”

“Robbie!” Marty shouted, jumping off his swing to hug Robbie’s legs. Calla had been laughing and having the time of her life swinging with her cousin, but she whimpered when Marty stopped swinging. She reached up with both hands for Joe, who lifted her up and shushed her softly. 

“Hey, Robbie,” Joe said with a friendly smile. “Good to see you.”

“Yeah, you too. Thank you guys for inviting me,” Robbie said. 

“Of course. You’re part of the pack now,” Mark said, patting him on the back. Joe smiled and nodded, which meant it must have been true. They all knew it by now. 

“Joe, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” Robbie snapped his fingers, face lifting as he remembered something. “I told Mark and Gordo about it a while ago, and they said I should bring it up with you. It’s about a pack I stayed with once, on my way from Maine.”

Gordo remembered that conversation about the pack of mostly trans wolves with children and how he’d thought it would be good for Joe to know them. He was glad Robbie had remembered. 

Mark pulled Gordo aside and kissed him while Robbie told Joe about the other pack. Marty was preoccupied now that Robbie was here, so they both took their eyes off him for a bit. 

“I’m going to ask him to stay tonight,” Mark whispered in Gordo’s ear. “After the party’s over.”

Gordo closed his eyes and tried not to shiver. “Okay,” he said. 

“Do you want this?” Mark asked, pulling back to make sure they were both serious. Gordo nodded. 

“I do,” he said. 

“You sure you’re ready?” Mark’s eyes were earnest, and Gordo cupped his face and kissed him again. He nodded. 

“I’m ready,” he said. It was time. They couldn’t ignore it anymore. The other night, he and Mark had gotten each other off telling each other what they’d do to Robbie if he was in bed with them. It had gone beyond what they could ignore, and Gordo was done trying to fight or hide his feelings. It had been months. 

Mark’s smile was so joyful it made Gordo’s chest swell, and he kissed Mark again so he wouldn’t get all sappy. 

He hoped they weren’t too obvious during the barbecue, but Gordo couldn’t help the way his eyes strayed to Robbie almost constantly. Robbie would catch him or Mark looking, and he would blush and look away. Gordo watched him with Marty and knew he belonged with them. He fit perfectly into their little family, and it was time Gordo and Mark did something about it. 

The barbecue was nice. Gordo couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy or laughed so much. Being around his pack, his wolves, his family, it made him feel like nothing else. He liked watching Joe and Ox be completely obvious about their love, not shy about public displays of affection and unashamed when Carter and Kelly teased them about it. He liked watching them together with their daughter, proud and happy. He liked watching Elizabeth smile softly at her pack, finally content after so much loss. He liked watching Jessie and Chris argue the way siblings always did, and he liked watching Tanner try to get Kelly’s attention. He liked watching Robbie with Marty, and Mark looking at them warmly. 

He tried to picture it how it might be, ten, fifteen, twenty years from now. All of them older. Marty and Calla grown up, a new pack forming. He and Mark gray-haired and wrinkled, with Robbie by their side, still keeping them young. 

He wanted it badly. 

And now he knew in his heart that he was willing to do whatever it took to get it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mark, gordo and robbie spend the night alone together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE IT IS LMAO i wrote this first before i wrote any other part of the fic and i just built everything up around this

Mark bumped Gordo’s hip with his as they washed dishes side by side in their kitchen. He was smiling. 

“It was a good night,” he said, kissing the side of Gordo’s head. 

“Yeah, it was,” Gordo agreed. He handed Mark a plate to dry and snuck another kiss from him. “Think we should steal Elizabeth’s Sunday dinners from her? It’s all about our weekly barbecues now.”

“We can have both,” Mark said. “At least in the spring and summer. Probably won’t be fun to barbecue in the winter.”

“We’ll think of something else,” Gordo said. “I think it’d be nice to start our own traditions. For Marty to grow up with.” They had their weekly breakfasts at the diner on Sundays - in the last month, Robbie had been joining them for those excursions every week - but Gordo wanted more. More memories.

Marty was currently being put to sleep by Robbie, who’d insisted on staying behind when all the other guests trickled back to their homes after the moon came out. Robbie had wanted to help clean up, and Mark couldn’t say no to him. He was in Marty’s room, reading him a bedtime story. 

Gordo was always so struck by the way Robbie and Marty were around each other. It was obvious that Marty had become Robbie’s new tether, and Gordo didn’t know how to feel about it. It meant Marty would get his wish - Robbie would stay here forever.

“I think so too,” Mark said. He smiled. Before Gordo could hand him another dish, his husband distracted him with more kisses. They forgot about the dishes after that.

Robbie walked in on them when they were making out.

He stopped in the doorway, eyes wide as his cheeks instantly went red. Gordo pulled away from Mark, hair mussed and breathing hard. Mark turned his head to Robbie, pupils still blown out. 

“Oh, I’m - I’m really sorry,” Robbie stammered, hands moving nervously in the air in front of him. He wrung them, twisting his fingers together, eyes flickering everywhere but Mark and Gordo. “I didn’t mean to - I’ll go.” As he moved to leave, he bumped into the wall, and Gordo rolled his eyes. Mark smiled. 

“Robbie,” he said softly, and Robbie stopped instantly. “You don’t have to go.” 

Robbie’s eyes widened. God, he looked so innocent. Gordo was annoyed at how much he wanted to wreck him. 

“I should leave,” he whispered, voice a little tremulous. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” 

“You didn’t,” Mark said, half-pulling away from Gordo. He kept a hand on his husband’s waist, bunched in his shirt. They were both hard, and it was easy to tell. Gordo saw Robbie’s eyes move down to the obvious bulges in their jeans before they snapped back up, blushing even deeper. 

“Marty’s asleep, right?” Gordo asked, voice low. Robbie nodded, lips parted as he stared at the two of them. 

“Good,” Mark said in that tone of voice he used that always got Gordo on his knees. Judging from the look on Robbie’s face, it had the same effect on him. Mark moved away from Gordo, closer to Robbie. Robbie backed up against the wall, eyes widening some more. He looked like he didn’t know if he should run or stay. Gordo thought he should run. It would be better if he ran. 

But he wanted him to stay. 

He followed Mark, slowly, so he wouldn’t scare Robbie. Mark stopped just shy of touching Robbie and hesitated when he looked back at Gordo. Gordo swallowed all the excuses he was about to make and nodded at his husband.

“I know you’re nervous,” Mark said softly, eyes on Robbie’s face. Gordo watched him swallow, Adam’s apple moving in his throat. Gordo wanted to kiss it. “And I know we run the risk of ruining everything by asking you this, but . . . I’d hate myself if there was something here and I let it go because I was scared. I’ve had missed opportunities before, and I regret them.” He looked back at Gordo, who reached out and took his hand. Mark’s eyes softened. “I don’t want to keep asking  _ What if _ ? for the rest of my life. The last time I let someone go that I cared about, it nearly killed us both. So I have to ask.” He squeezed Gordo’s hand. “ _ We  _ have to ask. Robbie . . . would you like to be with us?”

“I - ” Robbie sounded like he was choking, and his hands were shaking. “I don’t - ” He looked from Mark to Gordo, eyes wet. 

Gordo tried to smile, but he didn’t know how reassuring it was. “Whatever you do, it’s gonna be awkward either way. Either you file a lawsuit against us for sexual harassment or you sleep with us and life goes on.” He shrugged. “Your choice.”

Mark sighed and closed his eyes, shaking his head. Robbie surprised them both by laughing. He covered his hands with his mouth, muffling the sound. 

“You’d still be a part of our family,” Mark said, glaring at Gordo. “We wouldn’t ask you to leave, unless you wanted to.”

Robbie shook his head, looking scared all of a sudden. His hands fell back to his sides. “No, I don’t want to leave! I want to stay here. With all of you.” Gordo knew he meant the whole pack, not just their little family, and that’s when he knew there was no going back from this. 

Mark’s smile was so hopeful it made Gordo’s chest hurt. “Does that mean . . . .”

Robbie looked torn. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to - to fall for you both.” He blushed so deeply. “I don’t want to come between you.”

“You couldn’t,” Gordo promised. Not in the way he was talking about, anyway. Gordo thought he might come between them in a different way pretty soon. And God, he sounded like Rico. 

“We didn’t mean to fall for you either,” Mark admitted sheepishly, the smile growing wider. “But here we are.”

Robbie looked surprised at that, his eyes widening. “You both . . . want me? Like that? For more than just sex?” He stumbled over the word. Gordo was amazed at how many shades of red and pink there were in the color spectrum, because Robbie was showing a new one on his cheeks every minute.

“Of course,” Mark said, his expression softening. When Robbie looked at Gordo, Mark nudged him. Gordo sighed. 

“Yes,” he said. “We’ve wanted you for a while.” It was true, no matter how loath he was to admit. He’d fallen for the guy. Almost as hard as he’d fallen for Mark all those years ago. Robbie bit his lip. He flexed his fingers, looking down at the ground again. Gordo wanted to ruin him. He was adorable. 

Mark stepped a little closer to Robbie, erasing the distance between them. Robbie didn’t stop him when Mark raised a hand to his cheek, though he was trembling something fierce. He shivered when Mark’s thumb brushed over his lips. 

“Robbie,” Mark said, and the tone of his voice made Robbie look at him, lips parted and eyes wide and wet. “If you . . . wanted us. If you wanted to be with us. We would take care of you. We’d make you happy.” 

“I know,” Robbie whispered, looking shy again. “I do, I - I want that, even if it scares me.” He swallowed nervously. “But I - ”

“What is it?” Mark asked softly, still stroking Robbie’s cheek. 

“I - I’m a virgin.” 

Mark sucked in a breath. Gordo’s mouth went a little dry. It should not have been as hot as it was to hear Robbie say that, and Gordo was going to have to really sit down and examine himself and his kinks later, but for now, he was too wrapped up in the air in the room to think about it. 

“You’re - ” Mark started to say, but was cut off when Robbie buried his face in his chest, hiding his expression. 

“It’s embarrassing,” he mumbled against Mark’s shirt. “To be my age and not have had sex yet, and I know it’s stupid to think of it that way because it doesn’t matter, but I - I just never found the right person I guess and - I want it to be you.” He lifted his head and looked up at Mark again, and then Gordo. “Both of you. I want my first time to be with you.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Gordo said, his cock hardening behind his jeans. How had he gotten here? What were they doing?

“Are you sure?” Mark asked, fingers under Robbie’s chin. 

“Yes,” Robbie said, resolve hardening in his eyes even as his cheeks colored deeper. “I - I know you’ll make it good for me.”

“We will,” Gordo said, unable to stop himself. “Like Mark said. We’ll take care of you.”

Robbie bit his lip and shivered, and Mark’s hand went to his face, caressing his cheek. He leaned in and kissed Robbie, and Gordo watched the way Robbie melted against him, arms stretching up to go around his neck. It was a chaste kiss, at first, just lips brushing, pressing softly against each other. After a minute, Mark deepened it, and Robbie moaned as Mark’s tongue slipped into his mouth. Gordo reached down to cup himself over his jeans. 

When Mark pulled away, Robbie’s eyes flickered to Gordo, and Gordo stepped forward immediately to take Mark’s place. He kissed Robbie, and the minute he did, all his hesitation and all the reasons why they shouldn’t be doing this went out the window. 

Robbie was soft underneath him, pliant. His lips were plush and tasted sweet, and his tongue was warm in Gordo’s mouth. He made these sweet little noises that made Gordo’s cock start to leak pre-cum in his pants. 

Robbie already looked ravaged when he pulled away, and the thought of how wrecked he’d look after they fucked him was enough to make Gordo moan, too. 

Mark said, “Let’s go to the bedroom.” 

“Yes,” Gordo said, and Robbie just nodded. He followed them down the hall, past Marty’s room, two doors down to their bedroom. 

“We have to be quiet,” Mark whispered as he shut the door and locked it. “Do you think you can do that, Robbie?”

Robbie nodded, eyes wide. “I can try.” 

Gordo wanted to make him scream, make him moan and cry and whimper. 

But, he supposed if Robbie got too loud, they could always stuff his mouth with something to keep him quiet. Gordo thought of Robbie’s lips around his cock and had to squeeze himself to keep from leaking more. This was going to be the death of him. 

He wondered if Robbie even knew how to suck cock. They’d have to teach him. And  _ that _ thought turned him on even more. They’d teach him everything. 

Mark cupped Robbie’s face and kissed him again, holding him like something precious and treasured. Gordo watched, eyes on their mouths as he saw the flash of tongue and heard Robbie’s sweet, pretty moan. 

“Shhh,” Mark reminded him, pressing his finger to Robbie’s lips. Robbie looked gone already, eyes hazy, lips parted. He was spaced out. It was a good look on him, this high of pleasure and lust and want. Gordo’s cock twitched. 

“On the bed,” he said gruffly, stripping off his shirt. He tossed it on the floor and stepped out of his jeans, seeing no reason to wait. Robbie moved instantly at Gordo’s command, kneeling on the bed with his hands in his lap, waiting for his next instruction. He looked so eager. Shy, but eager. 

“Good,” Mark said with a smile. “Lay back. We’ll get your clothes off for you.” 

He did as he was told, stretching out across the bed. Mark undressed himself slowly, Robbie’s eyes fixed on him until Gordo said, “Hands above your head.” Robbie’s arms shot up, hands reaching out to the headboard. He didn’t have anything to hold onto, so he curled his fingers against his palms and kept them there, blinking at Gordo. 

Gordo sat beside him on the bed, slowly lifting Robbie’s shirt. He took it off and tossed it on the floor with his clothes. In his underwear now, Mark joined them on the bed, kneeling on Robbie’s other side. Robbie looked between them nervously, pretty eyes wide but trusting. 

“Have you done anything before?” Mark asked softly. “With anyone?” He brushed his thumb over Robbie’s nipple, and Gordo did the same with the other one. Robbie closed his eyes and shivered, biting his lip. He nodded shakily as Mark and Gordo rubbed his nipples with feather-soft touches. 

“I - I’ve gotten blowjobs before, and handjobs, but I’ve never - I gave one guy a handjob, but I was always too nervous to . . . .” He blushed and stumbled over his words. “To suck cock. I was scared I would do it wrong and it wouldn’t feel good to them.” 

“We’ll show you how,” Gordo promised, running his hand down Robbie’s stomach. He brushed his fingers over the line of Robbie’s hard cock through his jeans, and Robbie made this small, quiet sound that went straight to Gordo’s dick. Mark grinned, and then leaned down to take Robbie’s nipple in his mouth. Gordo did the same, swirling his tongue around the hard bud, sucking on it gently. It was enough to make Robbie whimper again, arching up from the bed. 

“Please,” he whispered, voice high. “Please, I . . . .”

“You want something in that pretty little mouth of yours?” Mark asked, voice velvet soft. Robbie’s cheeks burned red, but he nodded. Mark brushed his thumb over Robbie’s lips, parting them. Gordo licked a trail down Robbie’s stomach, hand expertly unbuttoning his jeans in a quick movement and tugging them down his waist. He was wearing briefs, and the outline of his cock was hard against the fabric, his legs squeezed shut. Gordo mouthed at it hungrily, wondering how he’d taste. 

“Gordo is gonna suck you off, and you can do the same to me,” Mark said, waiting for Robbie’s nod. “You copy him, do what he’s doing to you. I’ll guide you. That sound okay?” 

“Yes,” Robbie said shyly. 

“We’ll go slow, let you get used to it,” Gordo promised as he pulled Robbie’s briefs down, freeing his cock. He was fully hard, a bit shorter and thinner than Gordo and Mark, but still big. He was leaking a little at the tip, and Gordo put his lips over the head, tongue catching the liquid. Robbie whined, arching up into Gordo’s mouth. Mark smiled. 

“How does he taste?” Mark asked, running his fingers through Robbie’s hair. 

“Good,” Gordo said, kissing his way down Robbie’s length. “Sweet.” He licked from the base to the tip, enjoying the noise Robbie made. 

“Robbie,” Mark said, bringing Robbie’s attention back up to his face. “Can you do what he does?” He was holding his cock above Robbie’s face, kneeling by his head. Robbie looked nervous, but he nodded. He stuck his tongue out and licked Mark’s tip once, pink tongue lapping up pre-come, before he pulled back. Gordo watched him swallow as he took Robbie’s cock in his mouth.

“Like that?” he asked. Mark nodded, hand still in his hair. 

“Just like that,” Mark said gently. “Use your mouth.” 

Gordo went down on him at the same time Robbie wrapped his lips around Mark’s flushed head, and Robbie moaned, fingers curling tight against his palms above his head. Gordo was holding Robbie’s legs apart, keeping them spread, but he could feel Robbie’s thighs trembling. He took his mouth off his cock long enough to kiss his thighs gently, biting bruises into the soft skin. 

Mark thrust slowly into Robbie’s mouth, giving him what he could take. Robbie was looking up at him from under his lashes, lips stretched around his length. His cheeks were hollowed as he sucked, and when he pulled back, Gordo could see his tongue moving along the underside of Mark’s cock. Mark was nodding, hand on the back of his head. 

“Good,” he whispered. “You’re doing good, Robbie.” 

Gordo was tempted to move down, to run his tongue over Robbie’s hole instead of his cock, just to see what he’d do, but they’d save that for later. Instead he sucked Robbie’s balls into his mouth, first one and then the other before he let them go and tugged on them lightly with his hand. Robbie tried to shut his legs at the sensation, but Gordo wouldn’t let him. He kept them spread open as he went down on Robbie’s cock again, taking him to the back of his throat and sucking hard. 

Robbie was a fast learner, it seemed, because he reached up to play with Mark’s balls while he sucked him. Mark’s head tilted back, eyes closed. Robbie kept looking at him with eyes wide, as if he were asking for approval. He wanted to be praised, Gordo realized. God. 

His mouth looked obscenely pretty stretched around Mark’s cock, and Gordo had to reach down and squeeze his own cock until one of them could take care of it. He didn’t want to get himself off. He would rather teach Robbie how to do it to him. 

“Good job,” Mark said roughly, fingers curling in Robbie’s hair. “Keep doing that, sweetheart. Just like that.” 

Robbie’s spine curled at the nickname, and he moaned quietly, lashes fluttering. Mark groaned low in the back of his throat, skin flushing. Gordo knew he was about to come when Mark growled, his eyes flashing for a moment. He pulled out of Robbie’s mouth before he could release, and Robbie looked confused, almost hurt when he looked up at Mark. He whimpered, pleading, and Mark shushed him gently, thumb on the corner of his wet lips. Gordo watched them as he sucked Robbie’s cock slowly. He pulled off to stroke him instead, wanting to draw this out. 

“When I come,” Mark said quietly, hand on Robbie’s cheek. “Do you want me to do it in your mouth? Or somewhere on your body?” 

“I - ” Robbie looked like he’d never been faced with a harder question. He glanced at Gordo for guidance, and Gordo tilted his head as he rubbed his thumb over the soft skin of Robbie’s cock. Robbie bit his lip, shivering. He was close to coming, too, and Gordo couldn’t decide either whether he wanted to swallow it or lick it from his skin. Robbie looked back up at Mark, who was waiting patiently for an answer. 

“Can I try it in my mouth?” he asked shyly, blushing again. Mark smiled and leaned down to kiss Robbie’s forehead. 

“Of course you can. Whatever you want, baby.” He put his thumb to Robbie’s bottom lip, lining his cock up with his mouth. “Open up for me.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

All three of them froze, the words hanging in the air between them. Robbie looked like he wanted to run and hide, Gordo almost choked, and Mark . . . Mark looked turned on to an entirely new level. Gordo felt heat building in his belly, surprised at this turn of events. He and Mark called each other names in bed all the time, of course, but ‘sir’ had never been one of them. He couldn’t imagine himself saying it, but coming from Robbie’s lips, in that shy voice . . . that was something he could get used to hearing. 

Mark’s tone of voice was lower, softer, when he spoke again, pulling Robbie’s head in. His cock slipped back between his plush lips, Mark’s eyes gleaming. “That’s a good boy.” 

Gordo went down on Robbie again with more enthusiasm this time, and he had no warning when Robbie came in his mouth. Robbie’s toes curled, squirming on the bed as he tried to stay quiet. Watching him orgasm was one of the most beautiful things Gordo had ever witnessed in his life. The way his eyes went totally hazy, how his face changed, hands in fists and legs bent up, knees in the air. He was gorgeous. Such a pretty thing. 

Gordo swallowed eagerly, milking Robbie with his mouth until there was nothing left. Just before Robbie’s limbs turned to jelly on the bed, Mark warned him, “I’m coming, Robbie. Tongue out.” 

Even in his blissed-out state, Robbie listened and obeyed immediately, sticking his tongue out and opening his mouth wide as Mark came. Gordo watched, finally reaching down to squeeze himself. He really needed to get off soon. Mark’s come spilled over Robbie’s tongue, covering his lips and chin. He licked it up slowly, testing the taste. He seemed to like it, if the way he chased Mark’s cock for more was any indication. 

“What do you say?” Mark growled as he pulled Robbie’s head back, face deceptively soft. 

“Thank you,” Robbie gasped out immediately. “Thank you, sir.” 

If this became a regular thing, it was going to ruin Gordo. 

“Good,” Mark said, rewarding Robbie with a kiss on the forehead. He looked at Gordo, who was kneeling now, and then down at his husband’s hard cock. He smiled. “Now you and I have both gotten off, and we need to take care of Gordo.”

Robbie’s eyes widened at the sight of Gordo’s erection, as if he were imagining it inside him. He bit his lip, still dripping with come. He curled into himself like he was going to hide his body, but Gordo shook his head, keeping Robbie’s legs spread, his spent cock on display. 

“Don’t be shy,” Gordo said softly. 

“Wh - ” Robbie had to gather his senses, dazed from his orgasm. “What happens now?”

“Well, we have some choices to make,” Mark said, moving on the bed to sit beside Gordo. He leaned in to kiss his neck, speaking against his skin while Robbie watched. “Gordo is ready, so either he can fuck you while I fuck him, or he can fuck you while I watch. And then, when he’s done, I can fuck you too, if you think you can take it.” 

“I - I want you both,” Robbie stuttered, cock twitching against his thigh. “I just - ” He avoided their eyes, looking at the wall. “What if I can’t do it?” He looked like he hated to admit the possibility, and Gordo felt a surge of affection for him.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Mark leaned down and kissed Robbie’s knee, stroking his leg gently. “We’ll prep you, okay? We’ll make sure you’re ready. And if you can’t take it, or if you want to stop, all you have to do is say so.” 

“We don’t have to have sex tonight,” Gordo said. “If you’re not ready. If you want, you can just jerk me off, and we’ll wait for another time.” 

“No, I want to do it tonight.” Robbie’s cheeks flamed. “Now. I’m just nervous.”

“Don’t be.” Gordo leaned over his body and kissed him, holding Robbie’s face in his hands. He groaned at the taste of Mark’s come still in his mouth, and Robbie’s tongue chased his desperately, arms clinging to his neck. When he pulled back, Gordo brushed their noses together. “We’ll make it good for you. Didn’t we promise that?”

“Yeah,” Robbie whispered, nodding a little more confidently. “Then I want you to fuck me first. Then Mark.”

“Are you sure?” Mark asked. 

“Yes.” Robbie’s expression was determined. “If it’s too much, I’ll tell you.”

Mark and Gordo exchanged a look before they nodded. Gordo moved between Robbie’s legs again while Mark groped for the lube they kept in the drawer of their bedside table. 

“I’ll prep you first,” Gordo said as he massaged Robbie’s thighs. “Do you know what position you want to be in?”

“Can I ride you?”

“Anything you want.” Though Mark mostly liked to have Gordo on his back whenever they fucked, Gordo liked to wrangle his way on top every now and then, and he got an unbridled joy out of riding Mark’s cock. And then there were the days when Mark was the one on Gordo’s cock. Those were just as fun. 

The prepping of Robbie was slow and patient, moving at an easy pace. Gordo used his mouth first, unable to resist. He leaned down, said, “Ever tried this before?” and stroked his tongue along Robbie’s hole, reveling in the way Mark had to cover Robbie’s mouth with his hand so he wouldn’t moan too loud. When he’d had his fill, Gordo sat up and poured lube on his fingers, easing Robbie open with gentle pressure and caresses. He was tight, at first, but he loosened quickly enough, letting Gordo deeper inside. 

“I’ve fingered myself before,” Robbie admitted as Gordo added a third finger to him, pushing in slowly. “And I’ve used toys.”

“Good,” Gordo said. “Then you know what to expect.”

He prepped him on his back, but when Gordo took his fingers out, they moved positions. He sat up against the headboard and coaxed Robbie onto his lap, holding him around the waist. Mark sat next to them, stroking himself idly, watching. Robbie whined quietly as he rubbed himself against Gordo’s cock, slick with his own pre-come and long ready. Gordo groaned. 

“Wait,” he said before he could forget. “Condom?” He looked at Mark, who winced. He didn’t think they had condoms. 

But Robbie shook his head, flushing deeply. “It’s okay. I don’t want one. I’m clean, I’ve been tested.”

“We are, too,” Mark assured him. 

“I trust you both,” Robbie said. He bit his lip and looked shyly at Gordo. “And I want to feel it. I want you to come inside me.” 

“Jesus,” Gordo said, his balls tightening with need. 

“I want to know what it feels like.” Robbie kept rubbing himself on Gordo’s cock, and if it went on for much longer, Gordo was going to come before he was ready. He’d been hard too long without coming, trying to hold himself back while he prepped Robbie. Mark had reached over to squeeze his cock every now and then to ease the pressure, but Gordo was still ready to burst. 

“Okay,” Gordo said. “But stop that. Fuck.” He gripped Robbie’s hips to make him still, and Robbie lifted himself up a little. Gordo reached down, positioning his cock against Robbie’s wet, stretched hole. Robbie’s hands went to Gordo’s shoulders, clamping down tight. He was still nervous, shaking a little. Gordo paused. “Hey. Look at me.”

Robbie met his eyes. Robbie’s were wet, already near to overstimulation with the blowjob from Gordo and the fingering he’d had. He was breathing quickly, and Gordo leaned in to kiss him softly. 

“You’re okay,” he said. “I’m gonna take care of you, and Mark will, too. Tell me if you need me to stop.”

Robbie nodded and kept his eyes on Gordo’s. Beside them, Mark was still stroking himself, watching the place where Gordo and Robbie were connected. Gordo moved slowly, pressing his tip against Robbie’s hole. Robbie gasped slightly when the tip pushed into him. His cock had begun to harden again some time during his prepping, and now he was starting to leak, dripping onto Gordo’s stomach. 

“Just relax,” Gordo whispered. “Deep breaths. You gotta open up for me, baby. You’re already nice and wet, so I know you can let me in.”

“Yeah,” Robbie said, nodding. “Yes, sir.” His thighs were trembling, but he sank down onto Gordo’s cock slowly, wincing and squeezing his eyes shut the deeper it went. He made a sound that made Gordo stop, fear clutching his heart. He didn’t want to hurt him. That was the last thing he wanted. 

“Does it hurt?” Mark asked, reaching over to rub Robbie’s back. 

“A little bit,” he said. “But it’s okay.” He nodded to convince himself and kept breathing, rolling his hips slowly until Gordo’s cock was sunk deep into him, down to the base. Gordo brought Robbie’s face to his and kissed him gently, not moving at first, letting him adjust to the feeling. When Robbie was ready, he started moving slowly up and down. 

“Oh God,” he moaned, fingers tight on Gordo’s shoulders. Mark took one of Robbie’s hands, kissed each of his fingers, and then wrapped them around his cock. Robbie’s eyes focused on him. Mark smiled and brushed the corner of his reddened mouth with his thumb. 

“Get me ready to fuck you while you ride Gordo,” he instructed. “Jerk me off, just like I’m showing you.” His hand guided Robbie’s on his cock, and Robbie nodded to show he understood. 

“Yes, sir,” he said, making Gordo moan. He bit Robbie’s shoulder to cover it, wrapping his arms around his waist. Gordo couldn’t help thrusting up, and Robbie tried hard to keep from crying out. He’d just brushed his prostate. “Oh fuck, Gordo!”

“Do you like that?” Gordo asked, reaching down to take Robbie’s cock in hand. “You like it this way?”

“Yes.” Robbie was sweating, and he looked beautiful, eyes wide and lust-blown, skin flushed, hair a mess. Gordo wanted to cover him in marks. “Am I doing good?”

“Perfect,” Gordo said, tilting his head to suck a hickey into Robbie’s neck. “You’re doing perfect, beautiful.” 

“You look gorgeous like this,” Mark said. “Both of you do.” His hand was running up and down Robbie’s back, and occasionally, Gordo felt Mark’s fingers brush the base of his cock, teasing Robbie’s rim as they fucked. Robbie’s own hand never faltered on Mark’s cock, bringing him back to full hardness quickly. 

Gordo took his hand away from Robbie’s leaking cock to toy with his nipples, and then he angled his body back a little so he could put his mouth on them. Gordo sucked on Robbie’s nipples until they were red and sensitive, kissing and licking them until Robbie whimpered. The desperate pleasured sounds he made were a soundtrack Gordo wanted to listen to on repeat. Little breathy whines and small, high moans, begging whimpers and cries. He was so sweet in bed. 

It didn’t take very long before Gordo was ready to come, aching as he tried to fuck Robbie deeper. He fit so perfectly on his lap that Gordo almost wanted to keep him there forever. His appreciation for this position doubled. He thought about what it would be like to have Robbie just sit on his cock whenever he wanted, keeping it warm for him. Or for Robbie to have it in his mouth, resting on his tongue. He was going to have Robbie’s mouth next, he decided. While Mark was taking his turn, he’d keep those sweet lips busy. He might even come again. He didn’t have the werewolf stamina that his partners did, but his refractory period had become impressively short the more years he spent being married to Mark.

“Robbie,” Gordo groaned, pulling his head back gently; Robbie was weeping into his neck, lips latched onto him. “I’m gonna come. Are you ready?”

“Yes, please! Please, sir. I’m ready. I want it.” 

Robbie hadn’t come yet, but there was a pool of pre-come on Gordo’s belly from where he was leaking. He wondered if Robbie could come untouched. 

Mark had taken Robbie’s hand off his cock when he was hard enough. Like Gordo, he didn’t want to come until he was inside Robbie, either. He’d moved behind Robbie, hands around his chest to toy with his nipples, moving down to tease his cock lightly. He was whispering encouragements in Robbie’s ear, loud enough for Gordo to hear, too. 

“Get ready to take it,” Mark whispered. “You’re gonna hold Gordo’s come in while I fuck you, and then I’ll come in you, too. Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” Robbie cried. “Yes, sir. Oh God.” He was bouncing faster and harder on Gordo’s cock, drawing him to the edge. 

“You’re such a little slut for it,” Gordo growled, balls tightening. “Look at you, baby, so greedy for me. You want my come?”

“ _ Yes. _ ” Robbie couldn’t hold back anymore. “ _ Please. _ ”

He shook and cried against Gordo’s chest as Gordo released inside him, hot spurts filling Robbie’s ass. Robbie clenched around him, and Gordo groaned, biting his shoulder. He soothed the sting with his tongue and kissed Robbie through his orgasm, cock pulsing inside him. He didn’t notice that Robbie had come too until he pulled back. 

“I’m s-sorry,” Robbie stuttered, wiping his eyes and sniffling. “I didn’t mean to do that, I wanted to hold it - ”

“Shhh.” Mark rubbed his back and kissed the back of Robbie’s neck. “It’s okay, baby.”

Robbie clung to him, teary and shaking. Gordo felt him clench reflexively around his cock. It was warm and sticky between them, and Robbie’s skin was soft. Gordo never wanted to stop holding him. 

They didn’t rush him, letting him calm down before Mark’s turn. Mark ran his hand through Robbie’s hair, soothing him as he rubbed gentle fingers against his scalp, and Gordo milked his softening cock. 

“How does it feel?” Gordo whispered softly in Robbie’s ear. “My come in your ass?”

“Good,” Robbie said, clenching around him again. “I want more.” He was unashamed to admit it, but still shy, cheeks freshly reddening. Mark smiled behind him. 

“I’ll give you some, sweetheart. Don’t worry.”

Robbie licked his lips, lifting his head from Gordo’s shoulder. He seemed better now, a little less shaky, but there was a question in his eyes. Gordo thought he knew what he wanted to ask.

“You can have more in your mouth, too,” he said. “You can suck me off while Mark fucks you. That sound good?”

“Yes, sir.” Robbie looked relieved. Gordo thought they might have a cockwarmer on their hands, and a jolt of pleasure went down his spine at the thought. He didn’t even know he was open to that particular kink until they had Robbie in bed with them, but now it was all he could think about. 

That, and the fact that they seemed to have turned a virgin into a cum slut in the space of an hour. 

Part of him couldn’t believe that he’d just taken Robbie’s virginity, but at the same time, he felt stupidly possessive and proud at the thought. No one else would have this. Robbie was theirs now. Gordo knew he was thinking like a wolf, but he couldn’t help it. He was married to one. Part of a pack of them. Mated with one. 

Maybe mated with two. 

Mark wouldn’t bite him tonight; Gordo knew that. But if Robbie asked in the future, Mark would, without hesitation. And then he would really be theirs. Forever.

“You ready for me now?” Mark asked, gently massaging the globes of Robbie’s ass. Robbie nodded, clenching around Gordo again. 

“I think so.”

“Good. Gordo, pull out slowly. Robbie, I want you to clench when he does. Don’t let any come spill out, yeah? We want to keep you filled up.”

There was that deep blush again, pink and beautiful, but Robbie followed instructions. Gordo sighed when Robbie lifted his hips and Gordo’s cock slipped out, almost immediately missing the warmth of Robbie’s ass. 

Robbie’s body was pliant and malleable as Mark guided it where he wanted him to go. He pushed Robbie down onto his hands and knees on the bed, and Gordo knelt so his cock was level with Robbie’s face. 

“There you go,” Mark said. “Now spread your legs for me, baby, and arch your ass. Nice and high. Good job.”

Gordo ran his hand through Robbie’s curls. Robbie mouthed eagerly at his groin, licking the skin around his cock and making these little whining noises that got Gordo on the way to being hard again. 

At the other end of the bed, Mark admired Robbie’s ass for a bit, stroking his hard cock slowly. He ran a finger around Robbie’s swollen rim, and Robbie whimpered, letting out a gasp. His breath was warm on Gordo’s skin. 

Mark nudged the damp head of his cock against Robbie’s hole, rubbing it against him teasingly. Robbie trembled, trying hard to keep himself upright on the bed. The only downside to this position was that Gordo couldn’t see Robbie’s cock to know if he was getting hard again, but Mark could reach it from where he was. He would tell him. 

After Mark came, though, he wanted them to get Robbie off together before they stopped for the night. It wouldn’t be over until they gave him a second orgasm. Gordo wanted Robbie to remember this night for the rest of his life; to remember who’d made his first time so special, to remember exactly what it had been like to lose his virginity. Every detail. 

“Relax, sweetheart,” Mark said softly, running a hand up Robbie’s arched spine. “Can you let me in now?”

“Yes, sir.” Robbie unclenched enough to let Mark’s head squeeze in, and Gordo watched as Mark slid slowly home, each inch swallowed by Robbie’s entrance. Gordo’s hand tightened in his hair. He reached down to guide his cock into Robbie’s mouth. 

“Get me all the way hard again,” he said, looking down into Robbie’s wide eyes. “You want my come in your mouth? Work for it. Suck me until you get what you want.”

Robbie moaned around his cock and went to work, lapping and sucking eagerly. Gordo kept both hands in his hair, pulling his head forward. He choked once, and Gordo pulled back, but Robbie gave him a look from under his lashes that indicated he’d liked it. A lot. So Gordo pulled him forward again, sliding deeper down his throat. 

“Fuck, you feel good,” Mark said, gripping Robbie’s hips as he thrust into his ass. “You’re so warm. I can feel Gordo’s come in you.” Gordo could hear it, too, the sound it made as Mark fucked Gordo’s come back into Robbie. Gordo moved one of his hands to Robbie’s face to feel that it was wet, tears streaking down his cheeks. He pulled back until only the head of his cock rested on Robbie’s tongue and tilted his chin up so he could look at him. 

“You okay?” he asked, stroking his soft skin. “Do you want to stop?”

“No,” Robbie said, giving a small lick to Gordo’s cock. “No, please don’t stop, sir.”

“We won’t,” Mark promised, pulling out and pushing back in slowly. “Mmm, that’s a good boy for me, opening up like that.” He ran a thumb around the place where he and Robbie were joined, and Robbie whimpered against Gordo’s cock in his mouth. Gordo was fully hard by now, Robbie’s mouth warm and wet, but he wanted to wait to come until after Mark did. It probably wouldn’t be long. Mark was excited; Gordo could always tell by his moods how long it would take him to come, if he wanted to drag it out and tease and play or if he wanted to fuck fast and hard and dirty. Robbie had put him somewhere in between the two. 

“Oh, yeah,” Mark groaned, throwing his head back. He cursed again and gasped, his muscles tensing, and thrust deeper. “You ready, sweetheart? I’m gonna come.”

Robbie took his mouth away from Gordo’s leaking cock just long enough to say, “Yes, sir,” before he went back to his task. Gordo watched his eyes flutter shut, mouth falling open around his cock when Mark came in his ass. Robbie’s breath ghosted over Gordo’s dick, warm and damp. He whimpered delicately when Gordo carefully held his chin and slid his cock back into place to finish the job. 

His second orgasm was weaker than the first, but he still left a puddle of come on Robbie’s tongue for him to swallow. After that, Robbie finally gave up. He closed his eyes and let himself fall. Mark caught him, pulling him up gently to hold him against his chest. He kissed Robbie’s shoulders, running his hands over his chest to brush his nipples softly. Gordo glanced at Robbie’s cock, hard and needing to come again. It was clear he didn’t have the energy to do it by himself. 

They had no problem taking care of it for him, both of them with a hand on his cock, stroking him together. He buried his face in Mark’s shoulder when he came a second time, biting his lip hard, eyes squeezed shut. His thighs trembled and he made this quiet, soft, broken moan like he was trying to keep himself from being too loud. His come splattered his chest and Mark and Gordo’s hands as they milked him, and they didn’t stop until he was twitching and trying feebly to shove their hands away because he couldn’t take any more. 

While Robbie tried to get his breath back, Mark and Gordo looked at each other over his shoulder. Now that it was over, neither of them could believe that it had really just happened, but Gordo saw a sense of completeness in his husband’s eyes. Peace. Just,  _ finally _ . And he felt it in his own chest like something had shifted into place.

“How do you feel, baby?” Gordo asked softly, wiping excess come from the corner of Robbie’s mouth with his thumb. Robbie didn’t say anything coherent, just made a short humming sound. His eyes were still closed, and his whole body was flushed and shiny with sweat and come. 

Mark smiled and kissed the spot beneath his ear. He ran his hand through Robbie’s hair, tugging lightly. “You just relax, sweetheart. We’ll take care of you.” Gently, he lifted Robbie off his cock. Robbie was too tired to clench, so they made a mess of the sheets when rivers of come streaked down the backs of his thighs. Gordo watched the trails as they spilled across Robbie’s skin with a hungry satisfaction. 

“Damn,” he murmured to himself and shook his head. Mark had paused to watch it too, his hand on Robbie’s back. 

“God, we really filled you.” He sounded smug about it, and Gordo rolled his eyes. But he was just as disgustingly proud. Mark laid Robbie out across the bed and lifted his legs, leaning down to lick the come from his thighs. Gordo wasn’t about to let him have all the fun, so he went to work on Robbie’s chest, cleaning up the mess Robbie had made of himself. He was a little jealous that Mark had claimed Robbie’s hole - Gordo remembered how he tasted and wanted to rim him again, but it was only fair to let Mark have a turn. And there’d be time for Gordo to do it again later. 

Later. The thought of later made Gordo’s skin flush with pleasure and warmth. Robbie was theirs now. He wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Mmm,” Robbie groaned sleepily when Gordo kissed his way up his chest to his reddened, used mouth. He opened his eyes and tried to smile, and Gordo laughed. He kissed the side of Robbie’s mouth. Robbie gasped when Mark did something with his tongue, his legs falling open. Mark grinned from between Robbie’s thighs, his chin sticky with come. 

“What did you think?” Gordo asked, running his hand through Robbie’s hair. “Was it good for you? You liked it, right?”

“Yes,” Robbie said, bringing up a hand to rub his nipples lazily. “I really, really liked it. You guys are kinky. It’s kind of amazing.”

Mark laughed, and Gordo kissed Robbie’s neck. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, baby,” he promised, which made Robbie blush. 

“Oh, trust me,” Mark said. “Gordo’s full of surprises once you get him naked.” 

Gordo did nothing to deny it, busying himself with giving Robbie a hickey. Robbie squirmed and reached for his cock, which was still twitching, but Mark gently took his wrist and stopped him. 

“Hey, no. You’ve had enough.” 

Robbie frowned, which made Gordo bite his lip. “Your first time having sex and you already can’t get enough, huh? I like that you’re so eager for it.”

“Me too,” Mark said, kissing Robbie’s fingers. “But you need to rest. We all do.” He smiled softly. “You’ll stay with us tonight. And tomorrow . . . we can see what else you’re up for.”

“I’m gonna enjoy playing with you,” Gordo whispered in Robbie’s ear. It made him shiver, and Gordo kissed him again, unable to resist. 

“Stop torturing him, honey,” Mark said, pulling Gordo back. “Let’s shower so we can go to bed. I’ll start the water if you want to go grab some new sheets from the hall closet.” It wasn’t a suggestion so much as a statement, and Gordo rolled his eyes. Robbie laughed as he begrudgingly got off the bed and tugged his underwear back on. He crept out into the hallway and snuck past Marty’s room to check on him before he got the sheets. Marty was sound asleep, snoring into his pillow. Gordo grinned. Kid slept like a rock every time. There were some things he’d never stop being grateful for. 

He changed the sheets on the bed, tossed the dirty ones in their laundry hamper, and then joined Mark and Robbie in the shower. They had started without him - Mark was kissing Robbie senseless, cupping his face under the spray. He was bigger than Robbie, not by much, but enough that Gordo fixated on the way Robbie looked in his husband’s arms. He fit. 

Gordo wanted to kiss him too, so he made room for himself. This wasn’t about fooling around or sex anymore - this was just about being with him. Gordo kissed Robbie like he’d wanted to do for months. He wrapped his arms around him and held him against him, one hand on the side of his face. Robbie melted with his touch. 

They didn’t speak much after that, just finished their shower in between soft, gentle kisses. Mark offered Robbie a t-shirt to sleep in, and he blushed at the way they both stared at him when he put it on. They made a space for him between them on their bed. Mark and Gordo usually slept spooning, Gordo the little spoon and Mark the big one, but it was easy to make room for a third. Robbie slept curled up between them, touching them both in some way. He looked soft when he slept, and Gordo wanted to take a picture. 

He and Mark watched him for a while, both silently amazed and in awe at the turn tonight had taken. Mark stroked a finger over Robbie’s cheek, eyes soft in the low lamplight. Gordo kissed the top of his head. 

“This is forever,” Mark whispered just before they settled down. “It’s forever for me. You know that, right?”

Gordo nodded, trying not to get choked up. “Yeah,” he said. “I know.” And then he said, “Me too.” 


	10. Chapter 10

In the morning, an earthquake woke them up. 

“Daddy! Papa! Wake up, wake up!” Marty jumped up and down on the bed, hair a wild mess. He was giggling with glee, full of mischief. He often woke them up this way on days when he didn’t have to go to school, which meant almost every day in the summer.

“We’re up,” Mark groaned, rubbing his hand over his face. “Careful, bud. You’ll step on Robbie.”

Marty gasped. “What?”

Robbie had been buried under the covers, but he poked his head out sheepishly, looking a little terrified. Gordo squeezed his hand under the blanket, and Mark smiled and turned his face so his nose brushed Robbie’s temple. 

“Robbie slept over,” Gordo said. Marty looked betrayed and excited at once. 

“We had a _ sleepover _ and you didn’t _ tell me _?!” He pounced on Robbie, tackling him, and Robbie’s terrified expression melted away. He laughed and hugged Marty. 

“Hey, Marty-Man.” 

“Does this mean you’re gonna stay with us forever?” Marty asked point blank. Robbie’s eyes widened, but Mark answered for him. 

“Yes,” he said confidently. He grinned at Robbie’s expression, and Gordo smiled. He stole his son from Robbie and tickled him, making him erupt into fits of laughter. 

“Yaaaaaaaaay!” Marty shouted, rolling around on top of them. “Robbie, this means we can make _ so many more puzzles. _” 

“All the puzzles you want,” Robbie said, face softening. 

“I got so many! And we can do so much stuff together! Are you gonna stay with me while Daddy and Papa are gone so I don’t have to go to school? I’m _never _gonna go to school again! And you can be my bestest friend until I’m eleventy-seven!”  
Mark laughed. “Slow down, buddy. You still have to go to school.”

Robbie looked nervous all of a sudden, and Gordo didn’t like it. Something was up. He looked at his husband to make sure he’d caught the expression, and he had. Mark ruffled Marty’s hair and said, “Why don’t you go brush your teeth, kiddo? I’ll make you some breakfast in a bit, and you can decide what you want to do today.”

Marty nodded. “Okay, Daddy!” He jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. 

“What is it?” Gordo asked, running a hand through Robbie’s hair. 

“Um,” Robbie said, not looking at either of them. “I forgot to mention. I didn’t know how to bring it up, and I didn’t know what you would think. But I . . . I met with Jessie. About a job opportunity at the school.”

For a moment, Mark and Gordo just blinked at each other. Then Mark smiled. 

“And?” he said expectantly. 

“And . . . I think I want to take it. I’d be a kindergarten teacher, and I’d start soon, when school does.”

“That’s amazing,” Gordo said, something joyful and happy expanding in his chest. Before, he hadn’t liked to think about how long Robbie was staying in Green Creek. He knew he was renting an apartment downtown, but he’d never been sure how long Robbie would stay, or how long they would need him to babysit. Eventually, he’d started to consider that Robbie might want another job besides looking after Marty, especially if he was thinking about staying in Green Creek. He’d just been too afraid to ask if Robbie wanted to stay. He and Mark hadn’t really talked about it, but with summer’s end fast approaching, they would’ve had to have a discussion soon. 

“Does that mean you want to stay in Green Creek?” Mark asked. “For good?”

“Yes,” Robbie said, finally lifting his eyes to meet theirs. He smiled tentatively. “I want to stay. And I want to be with you both.”

Mark and Gordo shared another look, and in an instant, they made a decision. 

“Move in with us,” Gordo said. 

Robbie’s eyes widened. “What?”

“We have the room,” Mark said. “And you could save money. You wouldn’t have to pay rent.”

“I can’t - ”

“Yes, you can,” Gordo said, pressing his lips to Robbie’s neck. “We want you to.”

Almost four months Robbie had been in Green Creek, had been in their lives, and Gordo knew now that he loved him. They both did. He wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Really?” Robbie asked, his voice quieter. He looked back and forth between them, eyes hopeful and wide. 

Mark took Robbie’s hand out from under the blankets and kissed it, holding his fingers. “Say yes. Move in with us.”

Robbie suddenly looked so happy that Gordo was almost blinded by it. “Yes,” he said. He laughed when Mark kissed him, and when Gordo did the same. “Yes.”

“I love you,” Gordo whispered, biting his lip gently. A part of him felt freer when he finally said it. He said it to Mark all the time - where no one else could hear him be a softie - but admitting it to Robbie felt relieving. 

“You know I love you too,” Mark added, stroking Robbie’s face. “We both have for a long time.”

“I never thought I’d get to have this,” Robbie said quietly. “I’ve been moving from place to place for so long, I just never pictured finding my pack.” He blushed. “My mates.”

“Now you have,” Mark said. He kissed each of Robbie’s fingers. Then he grinned. “I’m glad we decided to get a babysitter.” Robbie smiled brighter than Gordo had ever seen. Mark gave Gordo a look. “I told you it would be good for us.”

Gordo laughed, carefree and joyful. “Yeah,” he said. “You did.”

*

_ two years later _

Gordo was late. He was _ late, _ god dammit, and he was going to _ miss _it, and he would never forgive himself. 

He ran through the hospital, looking for room 310. He’d gotten the call while he was at the garage and dropped everything to get in his car and drive here - Mark was working at the new office and would meet him there. Luckily Robbie had the day off, and he’d been the first one to arrive. He and Marty were already waiting. None of them had expected it, and Gordo yelled nonsensical things at Chris and Tanner as he ran out of the garage. He knew they probably got the gist of what he was trying to say, because he heard their excited cheers behind him as he left. He was sure they must have called Rico, who was on paternity leave. Bambi had just given birth to their kids a month ago - twins, two boys they’d named Mateo and Benjamin. 

“Papa!”

The sound of Marty’s voice made Gordo stop short, and he backtracked to the third floor waiting room, where five-year-old Marty was sitting on Elizabeth’s lap. Joe and Ox were next to them. Calla and her new baby brother, Thomas (who they all called Tommy, and Calla had renamed Tom-Tom) were playing with the toys set out on the rug. Tommy squealed at the sight of his uncle and threw a toy at him to get his attention. Joe laughed and scooped him up from the ground.

“Am I too late?” Gordo asked frantically, quickly kissing Marty’s head, Calla’s and then Tommy’s. Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. 

“You’re just on time. They’re down the hall. Mark and Robbie are waiting for you.”

“We’ll be out here!” Ox said as Gordo ran off again. There it was, finally. Room 310. Gordo burst in, breathing hard. 

“Did I make it? Tell me I didn’t miss it.”

“Sir, how many more people should I expect?” an irate nurse’s assistant cut her eyes at Mark, who had on scrubs over his clothes. “One guest at a time is permitted - ”

“It’s _ fine _ , Denise!” the woman on the bed shouted, her face red and sweaty. “I told you I don’t care - _ oh fuck holy shit oh my God!” _ Her face contorted in pain, and the doctor between her legs nodded. 

“That’s it! One more push!”

Jessie’s girlfriend, Sam, screwed up her face and pushed - and Gordo barely had time to move to Mark and Robbie standing at her bedside when he heard a cry. 

“Oh my God,” he said, more breathless than before. 

She was pink and wrinkly and covered in goo and she was _ beautiful _. 

“Here she is!” The doctor placed the baby in Sam’s arms, and Sam smiled warmly. It wasn’t the smile of a new mother, but the grateful smile of a person who was happy to make other people happy, and who knew she’d just given her friends a gift. She turned her smile on Robbie, holding the baby out. Robbie was wearing scrubs too. His eyes were wide behind his glasses as he held his arms out carefully for his daughter. 

They’d used his DNA when they decided they wanted to go the surrogate route. He’d refused, at first, but Mark and Gordo insisted on it. And in the end, Robbie conceded. Gordo was glad he did, all for the look on Robbie’s face as he cradled their baby in his arms. 

“She’s perfect,” he whispered. Gordo stepped closer, sliding his arm around Robbie’s waist. Mark moved in and wiped a tear from Robbie’s cheek. “She’s so beautiful. My angel.”

“Welcome to the world, Beatrice Bennett-Fontaine.” Mark looked happier than Gordo had ever seen him. 

Beatrice, after Robbie’s mother. As soon as they’d found out it was going to be a girl, they’d tossed around names, but it was easy to decide on Beatrice. 

“God, I’m glad that’s over,” Sam said from the bed as the nurses gave her water. “Jesus. I’m glad I know what it’s like now, so I never have to do it again.”

Gordo laughed. He loved Sam. The pack had finally met Jessie’s girlfriend during Christmas a year and a half ago, just before Calla’s first birthday. Jessie brought her over for Sunday dinner, and everyone was taken with her immediately. She was a tall, red-haired, supermodel gorgeous badass of a woman who was Jessie’s match in every way. 

When they were looking for surrogates, Sam had offered herself without a second thought. Mark and Robbie had been surprised by how quick she was to volunteer, but Jessie just rolled her eyes. 

“She likes to try new things,” she said. “She’s adventurous.” 

“You know I like to help people,” Sam rebutted, lightly tugging a lock of Jessie’s hair. “And I’ve always kinda wanted to try it. Plus, we could use the money to get a new place.” Gordo loved how casual she was about it, and after a quick vetting process, he knew Sam was the right choice. He was glad for his daughter to have her genes. 

His daughter. Finally. He felt like he’d been waiting forever for this. He’d thought the adoption process with Marty was long before, but it was nothing compared to waiting the nine months for a baby to actually be born. 

Robbie reluctantly handed the baby to the nurses so they could clean her up, and Mark leaned over the bed to hug Sam. 

“Thank you,” he said, pushing her hair back from her head. “Thank you so much.”

“It’s nothing.” Sam waved her hand in the air, face glowing. “It was kinda cool to be pregnant. Thank you guys for letting me have your baby. I can’t wait to be the favorite aunt.”

“Excuse me,” Jessie said, entering the room from behind them. “That honor will belong to me and me only.” She smiled, leaned down and kissed Sam sweetly. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, fine,” Sam said. “But we will not be having sex for like, two weeks. I will be way too sore.”

Gordo lost it, and Robbie laughed at the expressions on the nurses’ faces. The doctor looked amused. 

“Can the rest of them come in now?” Mark asked, turning to one of the nurses with a charming smile. She sighed, but she nodded. 

“Alright, fine.”

“I’ll go get them,” Jessie said. 

“No need!” Carter and Kelly sauntered into the room, teddy bears and flowers from the hospital gift shop in hand. “We were listening at the door. You got pipes on you, Sammy.”

“One of those bears better be for me,” Sam said, narrowing her eyes. Carter handed her the one he was holding. He and Sam had become best friends, much to Jessie’s dismay. 

Kelly arranged their other gifts on the bedside table and then hugged Mark, Gordo and Robbie to congratulate them. One of the nurses handed Beatrice back to Robbie, wrapped in pink, and they lost ten minutes just marveling at her face. Gordo hardly noticed the others enter the room - Elizabeth, being tugged along by Marty, who was beyond eager to meet his baby sister. Calla running along after her cousin, Ox and Joe close behind her, little Tommy in Ox’s arms. 

Beatrice was passed around from person to person, oddly tolerant of all the handling, and Gordo watched as every single member of the pack fell instantly, deeply in love with her. He turned back to Robbie and gently kissed the shape of the raven on his neck. On the other side was Mark’s bite, the scar healed and peeking out from his shirt collar. 

“We have a daughter,” he said, which made Robbie start crying again. He kissed the tears away and pressed Robbie’s head to his chest. Mark put his arms around them both, holding his family close. 

“I can’t wait to take her home,” Mark whispered. Gordo knew how excited he was to be a father again - almost as excited as Gordo was. He knew they’d be fighting over whose turn it was to feed or change the baby as soon as they took her home. 

“Me too,” he said. He looked down at Marty, whose finger was trapped in the grip of his baby sister. His eyes were wide. 

“What do you think, bud?” Gordo asked, kneeling down to his son’s level. 

“I love her,” Marty said immediately, whispering because Beatrice’s eyes were closed and he didn’t want to disturb her. She wasn’t sleeping - she was gurgling and making all those wonderful sounds babies make that Gordo had missed so much. Of course, he’d had plenty of them lately, with baby Thomas and then Bambi and Rico’s twins. But it was different coming from his daughter. 

“I’m gonna be the best big brother,” Marty said very seriously, looking up at all three of his dads to make sure they knew it was a promise. 

“And I be best too!” Calla jumped up and down, not to be forgotten. She inched forward to where Marty was sitting on a chair with Beatrice carefully held in his arms, Elizabeth next to them to make sure Marty held the baby properly. “I be best!”

“You will be the best, sweetheart,” Joe said, patting Calla’s head. “The best cousin in the world.”

“Yay!”

Two-thirds of the future Bennett pack was in the room right now, Gordo realized. Calla and Tommy were the only born wolves (Joe had decided he’d wanted to give pregnancy another try after he met Robbie’s friends, the pack of trans wolves from his travels, and luckily it had been a bit of an easier pregnancy than the first one - but it would be Joe's last), but it didn’t matter. She was going to usher in a new age, a new pack of bitten wolves. They were already sure that Marty would ask for the bite when he was eighteen. Even if he didn’t, and even if Rico’s kids never did, it wouldn’t matter. Calla would be the first Alpha with an almost entirely human pack. Beatrice was a special case. Half human, half wolf. Gordo didn't know of any other hybrids. They'd considered that for a while before they decided on Sam being the surrogate. Would it be better to have a wolf carry the baby, if they were using Robbie's DNA? It was a risk. But Joe had done some research, and he'd dug up old stories of wolves mating with humans. They'd decided to give it a try. To take the risk. 

And she was healthy. There had been almost no problems with the pregnancy. Sam was strong. Beatrice was strong. With her in Calla's pack, Green Creek would once again become the center of the wolves' world. People would come to see, Gordo knew. The wolves from Maine would have to pay them a visit. 

But they were ready. They were stronger in numbers and fiercer than ever, now that they had so much more to protect.

Gordo looked down at Beatrice again and saw his future stretching out before him, his family by his side. 

He felt Thomas and Maggie and Robbie’s mother, there in the room with them. They all did.

They were happy. They were ready for whatever came next.

Robbie and Mark stood on either side of Gordo, crowding around Marty. They held Beatrice between them and shared looks of absolute bliss. Gordo thought back to two years ago, when Mark had convinced him to get a babysitter. He kissed Robbie, and then he kissed their newborn daughter’s forehead.

He would never stop being grateful for that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you guys enjoyed this fic! i spent so much time on it and worked really hard on it and i'm happy with the way it came out. i know the green creek fandom is small so only like 5 people will read it lmao but i hope everyone enjoys it!

**Author's Note:**

> HEY THESE NOTES ARE IMPORTANT READ THEM PLS THANK U
> 
> i had to rate this explicit because of the smut but theres actually only like 3 scenes and the rest is plot and buildup lol!!! hope you guys enjoy! 
> 
> re: trans pregnancy. i mentioned that i have other WIPs that include it, and one of the longest ones (the other giant over 100 pages fic that i've been working on for months) is an aftg au with kevineil/kandreil where neil is trans, he and kevin are married, and they decide they want to have a baby. i did a lot of research before writing it because i wanted to make sure i was doing it in a way that wouldn't upset anyone. it'll be a while before i post it but i guess this is my trial run of posting something that deals with the subject of trans pregnancy. DISCLAIMER: i am not trans or nonbinary, and i don't claim to know what it's like to be trans and pregnant. but like i said i've done research and i've done my reading. i am bisexual and the LGBTQ+ community is my home, and as a writer i like to write about queer characters the most. i just enjoy writing about trans pregnancy, i think it's a special topic that should be discussed more in LGBT+ circles. 
> 
> let me know what you guys think!! comments are appreciated!


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